tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75013721161737490712024-02-20T20:03:35.531-08:00A Riding HabitAddicted for life...Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.comBlogger142125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-37898073015048706002021-09-28T05:00:00.008-07:002021-09-28T05:16:57.404-07:00 Dissecting the Seat - Part 5: Deep Seat vs Light Seat by Dr. Thomas Ritter <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQUWDliql4syQ7ki5xT0ADl4KGFpCeOgJKxavFx75wJI6T_-dxJkbYOE4LCODuYMNh5FFvNmijpatgP-I9Zzew4vJ9oWV-TlvhSFqpkTznwojQ5560ATyrW0SYYXL5cywjsbLZI4BD73C/s1200/dressage-today-solutions-sharon-schneidman.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1025" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQUWDliql4syQ7ki5xT0ADl4KGFpCeOgJKxavFx75wJI6T_-dxJkbYOE4LCODuYMNh5FFvNmijpatgP-I9Zzew4vJ9oWV-TlvhSFqpkTznwojQ5560ATyrW0SYYXL5cywjsbLZI4BD73C/s320/dressage-today-solutions-sharon-schneidman.png" width="273" /></a></div><br /><span color="inherit" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: inherit;"><br /><br />What is a deep seat?</span><p></p><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">You have probably all heard that one of the qualities of a good seat is that it is deep. But what does that mean? For me personally, a deep seat is a seat with a low center of gravity and the largest possible area of support. This lends the seat stability and it allows the rider to feel the horse with her entire body, which is why the old masters used to say that the rider should sit “in” the horse, rather than “on” or “over” the horse. A seat with a high center of gravity and a small support base, on the other hand, is unstable and doesn’t allow the rider to feel the horse very well.<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">A low center of gravity and a large support base also allow the rider to connect her weight through the horse’s legs to the ground. The seat is then secure and balanced, which leads to a sense of feeling at home on the horse’s back and to relaxation.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;" /><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><span color="inherit" style="font-size: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">Heavy seat</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">One potential pitfall is that perhaps some riders think that in order to sit deeply they need to ride with extra long stirrups or that they need to sit very heavily on their seat bones. However, stirrups that are too long overextend the rider’s hip, knee, and ankle joints so that they can no longer function as shock absorbers. The support base becomes smaller when the legs are too extended, the rider feels less stable and less independent in the saddle. The femurs tend to rotate outward, and the hip joints tend to lock up. The rider is then no longer able to allow the horse’s back and rib cage to move freely in all directions because she herself lacks the necessary freedom of motion in her leg joints.<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">When the rider sits heavily on her seat bones, she will prevent the horse’s back from lifting in the long run, which prevents the hind legs from engaging. The horse breaks into two pieces and falls onto the forehand. The connection between the hind legs and the bit through the spine is then severed. The rider’s pelvis and legs need to be able to accommodate the movement of the horse’s rib cage in all directions and to shape it by increasing or decreasing certain movements at any given time. So you could say that the seat has to be deep AND light at the same time. Sometimes it is necessary to create a small space under our pelvis and our seat bones so that the horse can lift his back and engage his hind legs more, which leads to an increase in roundness and throughness. This requires the rider to get support from below the seat bones, i.e. the inner thighs and knees in addition to the bottom of the pelvis and the seat bones.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;" /><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><span color="inherit" style="font-size: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">Hovering seat</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">The opposite potential pitfall is that riders may want to sit lightly at all times and end up in a permanent 2-point seat, or hovering above the horse. This usually leads to the horse extending his hind legs and pushing the croup up, so that he ends up dropping his back and falling on the forehand as well. Sometimes these horses step under their body with their hind legs, but they don’t flex them. As a result, they may lean onto the bit or invert. If they are short backed or a little croup high, they may forge or the hind legs step on the heels of the front legs because the overloaded front legs don’t lift up in time to get out of the way of the landing hind leg. When the hind legs flex under the weight, the front legs have enough time to lift and make room for the landing hind leg.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;" /><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><span color="inherit" style="font-size: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">Biomechanics of the stride</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">In each stride the hind legs lift off and swing forward, touch down and flex under the weight, and push the body mass forward by extending their joints. The rider’s seat has to allow all three by flexing and extending her hip, knee, and ankle joints to allow the wave like up and down motion of the horse’s back. In addition, the pelvis has to be able to move in all three dimensions in order to accommodate the movement of the horse’s rib cage and back in all planes. In a neutral seat the rider’s joints flex and extend exactly as much or as little as the horse’s back and rib cage move up and down, forward and back, and left and right. The rider neither increases nor decreases any aspect of the stride.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">A heavy seat, in which the entire body weight of the rider bears down all the time, accentuates the flexion of the grounded hind leg at first. But it also keeps it grounded and makes it return to the ground as soon as possible. This has the effect of slowing the hind legs down and preventing them from lifting up and engaging, so that the strides become shorter and the hind legs no longer support the back. The back collapses under the rider’s weight, and the horse inverts or shortens the neck.<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">A hovering seat does the opposite of the heavy seat in that it never asks the hind legs to flex. On the positive side, it allows the back to lift, but on the negative side, the hind legs become stiffer because they stay more and more extended. This results in rough gaits because there is no shock absorption by the hind legs if they don’t flex, and the back won’t lift and swing if the hind legs don’t act as springs. It can also result in forging and injuries to the heels of the front legs. But it can also lead to tripping or short, minced strides, if the toes of the hind legs drag on the ground.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;" /><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><span color="inherit" style="font-size: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">So what do I do?</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">A good strategy is to start with a neutral seat that is deep, balanced and supple, not fixed in any one position, with all joints flexing and extending just enough to accommodate the horse’s natural back and hind leg movement. Observe the quality of this movement. What do you notice most? What is good about the walk, trot, or canter that you are riding? What would you like to improve? Is it elastic, springy, round, energetic, or jarring, hard, flat, lifeless? If you are not sure which aspect to change, you can always experiment by accentuating one of the three phases of the stride and observe whether the horse feels better or worse to you. In lessons I often ask students how the horse feels before and after an exercise. Many riders find it very difficult to put their feelings into words. But if you try to describe precisely what you are feeling, you train yourself to feel more clearly and to reflect on what you are feeling. This becomes a very valuable diagnostic tool.<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">You can accentuate the liftoff and forward swing of the hind leg by not merely letting the horse lift you up, but by supporting yourself more with your knees for a split second and letting your pelvis swing up a little higher than the horse would lift you if you were completely passive. This can be further supported by driving with your lower leg on the side of the hind leg that is lifting off. If you drive a split second before the hind leg lifts off, you can accelerate the hind leg if it’s too slow.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">You can accentuate the flexion and weight bearing of the hind leg by letting yourself sink down more and sending your energy and your weight through the flexing hind leg into the ground. This creates shorter and higher steps during the release of the seat aid. If the horse is rushing, you can stay down a split second longer before you allow the horse to lift you up again. This will slow the tempo down. It can be further supported by stepping into the stirrup on the side of the landing hind leg and/or by a half halt on one of the reins.<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">You can accentuate the extension of the grounded hind leg by engaging your back muscles, sending your weight and your energy down into the ground through the extending/pushing hind leg. You can give a brief push with both knees when the hind leg is on the ground behind the vertical. I also let my pelvis swing up and forward when I want the hind leg to push more. That way I don’t suppress the lifting of the horse’s back in a lengthening and I direct the energy upward as well as forward so that the horse doesn’t fall onto the forehand.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><span color="inherit" style="font-size: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">Conclusion</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">One important thing to keep in mind is not to do everything at once, all the time. But to select one aspect of the stride that you want to improve, accentuate it for 2-3 strides, then return to neutral and observe the effect of your aid. Based on your observation, choose another aspect to accentuate, or repeat the last aid, if it wasn’t enough yet. Sometimes it makes sense to build sequences of aids, e.g. accentuate the lift off/engagement of a hind leg for 2-3 strides, then accentuate the flexion for 2-3 strides. This creates more elastic gaits.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">Or accentuate the flexion of the grounded hind leg for 2-3 strides, then accentuate the lift off/engagement. This will lead to shorter, higher, more energetic strides, which can evolve into a passage over time.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">You could also engage a hind leg for 2-3 strides, then accentuate the extension of the grounded hind leg for 2-3 strides. This creates more powerful strides and a more solid connection from back to front if a horse tends to hold himself back.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><br /><br />Dr. Thomas Ritter<br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ritterdressage.lt.acemlna.com/Prod/link-tracker?redirectUrl%3DaHR0cCUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy5hcnRpc3RpY2RyZXNzYWdlLmNvbQ%3D%3D%26sig%3DLFQz1kYWnTdNBjCjhw1bRA5b6HYSPtFMozKpv1BUhp3%26iat%3D1631463185%26a%3D649219195%26account%3Dritterdressage%252Eactivehosted%252Ecom%26email%3DdvZg7mJnmBjzbGiKlh%252F03r35hO7C%252FF3J%252FgQB9Uu3XAY%253D%26s%3D8fb7bbbcd0ee5a9e8e24939d3e72bb19%26i%3D1472A1774A96A7514&source=gmail&ust=1632117307182000&usg=AFQjCNGiH2A1MsK7AMajbtxsF-8FvTfn7g" href="https://ritterdressage.lt.acemlna.com/Prod/link-tracker?redirectUrl=aHR0cCUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy5hcnRpc3RpY2RyZXNzYWdlLmNvbQ==&sig=LFQz1kYWnTdNBjCjhw1bRA5b6HYSPtFMozKpv1BUhp3&iat=1631463185&a=649219195&account=ritterdressage%2Eactivehosted%2Ecom&email=dvZg7mJnmBjzbGiKlh%2F03r35hO7C%2FF3J%2FgQB9Uu3XAY%3D&s=8fb7bbbcd0ee5a9e8e24939d3e72bb19&i=1472A1774A96A7514" style="color: #045fb4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">www.artisticdressage.com</a></div>Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-57360856951343112482021-09-27T02:54:00.006-07:002021-09-29T05:29:14.620-07:00That time of year, Laminitis edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinyDTCAwRzfpcHG-dG0QxIpBUKNmEBOIx9ypLPVPR55qYM_tkzpDwwHxEQd3v7m07-XdD1C-E846hCp3_ghMrSizYTchIbzXFOl1BAIysHJuKYCEux-y4KXBSw4e4ZmylQ4l3HT-wUxBh5/s2048/Photo+27-9-21%252C+8+05+08+pm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinyDTCAwRzfpcHG-dG0QxIpBUKNmEBOIx9ypLPVPR55qYM_tkzpDwwHxEQd3v7m07-XdD1C-E846hCp3_ghMrSizYTchIbzXFOl1BAIysHJuKYCEux-y4KXBSw4e4ZmylQ4l3HT-wUxBh5/w462-h347/Photo+27-9-21%252C+8+05+08+pm.jpg" width="462" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">~ <i>Riding at Equestrian Park, amongst the cross country jumps</i> ~</div><p> I don’t know if you can even say that this blog will revive again, as it seems I manage about an average of one post a year currently…</p><p>However, I have been missing writing down my horsey adventures and guess what? I have been riding, like, a lot. A-lot-a-lot!</p><p>Since moving to Illoura a year and a half ago, Copper and I have really settled in. We’ve had some hiccups along the way, the first winter was really rough on Copper as a lot of paddocks were still recovering from the drought and there was hardly any feed. His arthritis hit him pretty badly and he was loosing weight like crazy until I figured out that he is actually pretty old now and <em>needs</em> a cozy warm rug on throughout the coldest months of the season (as of 2021, he's 20 years old!).</p><p>But thanks to some adjustments I made to his diet the following spring (2020 still) he’s really bounced back in terms of physical wellness. I added Mitavite Performa 3 oil, as well as MSM and Glucosamine powder to his daily (or almost daily) hard feed and that’s knocked <em>years</em> off his joint aging and those additives together have made his joints supple and flexible again, as well as reducing all the swelling. He wasn’t stiff this winter (2021), can move freely and isn’t in so much pain anymore when he has to be yarded or does some hard work. </p><p>Oh yeah – yarding. That’s a whole thing. </p><p>We had a too close a brush with laminitis previous spring of 2020 ~ the grass and clover was absolutely bonkers with non-stop rain. Copper got very, very well padded so quickly, I really hadn’t noticed how much weight he was gaining. It was SO even all over, but you could still feel rib!</p><p>But I realized belatedly that he was suffering from sub-clincial laminitis – all the symptoms where there:</p><p>- He had non-stop abscesses in all his feet for months</p><p>- His white line was starting to stretch out in his forefeet particularly, but the hinds where also experiencing that as well.</p><p>- He was foot sore, even on soft ground (Although he wasn’t lame)</p><p>- He had digital pulses on and off for ages</p><p>So I discovered even into the summer, he needs a lot of management in these paddocks as pretty much all the paddocks but two have been re-seeded in the past which means they are no longer native grass. The land used to be farmland for dairy cows – aka, the grass is EXTREMELY rich, designed for making fat! It really could have been a total disaster if I hadn’t caught it in time. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9c3qYTHfyb_F5R4kGyT40ZAklbN1RK4fWbHnXxoBL31F4M9H_tl_lly5I8GP_LN6JKRdtlH88nbgPBDiArRcNBSF5R3hjJG0NNbdEzEkRvYtAYnBxNkdMVsP3PfpBFaukx1lc7YmZKXDQ/s2048/Photo+27-9-21%252C+8+04+12+pm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9c3qYTHfyb_F5R4kGyT40ZAklbN1RK4fWbHnXxoBL31F4M9H_tl_lly5I8GP_LN6JKRdtlH88nbgPBDiArRcNBSF5R3hjJG0NNbdEzEkRvYtAYnBxNkdMVsP3PfpBFaukx1lc7YmZKXDQ/w464-h348/Photo+27-9-21%252C+8+04+12+pm.jpg" width="464" /></a><br />~ <i>Mr. <u>Very</u> Not Impressed With Being On A Diet ~</i></div><p><br /></p><p>Copper also had to get used to a muzzle for the first time in his life – two words from him – NOT IMPRESSED – but we are using the <a href="https://www.performaride.com/shop/horse-gear/greenguard-horse-grazing-muzzle/?attribute_pa_head-size=pony-4-inch&attribute_pa_colour-swatch=pink-colour&gclid=Cj0KCQjw18WKBhCUARIsAFiW7JyAAT-3zcT0MZWPFOHlNCTuMFHJBe6otsLdEgJch92W18DgmBopYX8aAo7NEALw_wcB">Green Guard muzzle</a>, which is miles better than any other muzzle on the market. It's breathable, yet tough, with a nice open design that doesn't make him sweat too much, while also doing an excellent job of restricting his grazing.</p><p>However, this spring I’ve had to take him off the grass as much as possible – even with the muzzle. The sugar content is very high again, probably worse than last year simply because this winter, the grass never died but just. kept. growing. and. growing.andgrowingandgrowingandgrowing….</p><p>Copper started showing heat and swelling in his digital pulses very early this year – it was the end of winter before spring really even started. I just went – it’s not worth the risk. So he’s in a diet yard with low sugar teff, soaked lucerne and daily hard feeds except for either one day a week out in the paddock with a muzzle on, or if it’s raining and cold he’ll be in the paddock without the muzzle. </p><p>He’s also been on <a href="https://kohnkesown.com/trim-2/">Kohncke’s Trim</a> for a good six months or longer, which has turned out to be another crucial component to his diet as I think that’s helped him metabolize the rich grasses a lot better. Having him on that supplement has helped us to keep the paddock as option when necessary. </p><p>It’s not ideal to turn out on grass when dealing with sub-clinical laminitis, but being in a basic agistment situation like this, you have to work with what you’ve got. The yards get extremely muddy and slippery in the wet and Copper injures himself every time he’s left in there during the rain so out he goes.</p><p>He thankfully hasn't reached the sub-clinical laminitis stage this year. So far, the extra yarding and management has worked well – his pulses have stayed right down, he’s been much sounder than last year, and his hooves are far healthier – indicating good things. He also quite trim and not really as fat - he would tell you he's simply<i> withering away </i>to a skeleton of course, but I think he's at a good weight right now and I aim to keep him there if possible. </p><p>But now that he’s in the yard, he needs daily exercise or he gets stiff and sore which means I have been riding A LOT! I’ve also been learning a ton of new things and I can’t wait to write about all of that which is why I’m back again. </p><p>Until next time – see ya, </p><p>bonita </p>Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-18979593627142026522020-04-22T01:52:00.001-07:002020-04-22T01:55:25.117-07:00It’s 2020 and everything’s strange..<p>I’ll try and keep to the tldr version. A lot has happened since I last posted on the blog, but then again, not much has happened at the same time – ya know?<p>Let’s see…<p>2019: we move back to Australia in the middle of winter – we arrive at the end of June and we are back for good.<p>August: the property Copper is being kept at goes up for sale, and I can’t find anywhere to move him to as Australia is still in a really bad drought.<p>October: we are told we have two weeks to move him out by, but I still can’t find any place to put him in; EVERYTHING and I do mean EVERYTHING is closed to new clients. Thankfully a listing pops up on Gumtree – it’s for a paddock with a dam and fence and that’s literally it, besides being HALF an HOUR away from our city. At this point, I don't care at all. We are taking the spot.<p>Nov-Dec: I get a bad kidney infection that lands me in hospital for two weeks. We also buy a house, and have to move our house, plus my in-laws are also moving while I'm in hospital. <p>January: Still getting back on my feet from the kidney infection. Copper is chased over a fence by his paddock mate – a brat of a pony that bullies him around and bites him all over. <p>His leg is injured; he’s got a chunk out of his offhind – the outside of his cannon half way between his hock and fetlock.<p>It’s not terrible, but he’s lame as and needs a vet. Then he ends up on penicillin twice a day for six days – which is an HOUR drive there and back again each time.<p>It’s a LOT. I don't even have a HOSE to clean his wound down - I have to carry enough water out with me to wash down his leg every time.<p>February: finally the rains start coming down. Copper and his paddock mate have been living in a dust bowl since the end of November – there is ZERO grass in the paddock, so they’ve been on hay rounds, but we finally have some real grass popping up.<p>March: Copper is already growing in his winter coat, it's going to be a cold winter. Although he's been doing better than before as his leg is finally healing, I can see that having a brat for his only paddock companion is really getting to him. He's starting to become very withdrawn and depressed. I am seriously stressed and worried - not just about his state of mind, but also with the burden of winter coming - feeding and rugging will be an expensive nightmare. It's costing us $12.00 just in the petrol to drive out there!<p>In desperation I start reaching out to equestrian complexes again trying to find him a new paddock. Unbelievably, I manage to catch a popular complex in the ACT at just the right time, and we get offered a spot in a group agistment set up.<p>It's run by the same people when we were at Rose Cottage, so there's nothing super grand, but it's seven minutes from our house and as basic as the facilities are, it's a huge step up from what we currently have available.<p>April: We are settling into our new paddock and it's great. We have yards, a common area for tacking/feeding, a wash bay, a very small sand arena that's 40x20 and tons of trails to go out on!<p>He's finally fat again after loosing way too much weight and muscle over summer, and is much, much happier. I'm also so ecstatic to have him so close - I'm able to feed him his supplements everyday/every other day without too much stress. It's easy to take care of his leg as it's still healing. I'm having fun exploring the new trails with Copper, and everything is finally going so well. <p>It's been a journey to get him back into a good situation for us both, but it's so worth it to have him back with me. I've missed my pony like crazy the years I was away, and I'm just soaking up every moment with him. <p>And yes, through it all COVID-19 has been a thing. We social distance at the yards - it's very busy as there are a lot of invested owners. Pretty much everyone who has a horse or horses there is out everyday to feed/change rugs/ride so it's like grand central station sometimes. <p>It's also in the middle all these suburbs and has a lot of public access and I don't know about you, but EVERYONE in our city is out walking/bike riding/taking the dog(s) and kids for walks all day, every day just about! So there are also a LOT of random people walking into and through our yards and trails.<p>I gotta say, it does make it a bit tricky when you are trying to avoid people like they have the plague (which, they might!!) but we are all doing our best I think, and so far it seems to be working.<p>I'm so grateful to have Copper - he helps me get out, and makes me laugh everyday. He's such a goof, but I love it. <p>Next post will have to just be about all the funny things he's done lately! <p>See ya, <p>bonitaLavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-21153414733453995002018-02-19T18:04:00.001-08:002018-02-20T17:47:22.129-08:00It’s been a Year<p>….And this is the next instalment of why my pony is still the bestest pony ever...</p><p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pwKVaLUX3WA/WovmkQtVw3I/AAAAAAAAPVw/WsnzRJI1cLYKcuWdO8J24Z4X1vpugd6OwCHMYCw/s1600-h/ACS_0075%255B1%255D"><img width="480" height="640" title="Hanging with his bud" style="border: 0px currentcolor; border-image: none; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Hanging with his bud" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hcD_zdqjqjA/WovmmWlGDyI/AAAAAAAAPV0/M4ma4j-X1oM3dDCF5Rqhqxl9pv6OvGBtgCHMYCw/ACS_0075_thumb?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p><p align="center">- <em>Hanging with his best buddy -</em><p>The last time I posted on this blog, we had gone on an amazing trail ride, and had the best fun. So what did we get up to the rest of the year of 2017?<p>Well, I packed up the family and we moved overseas to Thailand.<p>Yeah, you did read that correctly!<p>We left on the 24th of April 2017, and I was going to write more about it while we were over there, but I got pretty sick due to not being able to access my treatments for my hypothyroidism - oh hey, I haven't written about that either! - so it never really happened. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-faHmCLTqunk/WouBuSIcY3I/AAAAAAAAPUg/Y82APMZZVDAFyCxKo_VrxHCBzaYr_6JUACHMYCw/s1600-h/ACS_0079%255B4%255D"><img width="480" height="480" title="All the cute" style="border: 0px currentcolor; border-image: none; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="All the cute" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nIHzZqugxZ8/WouBwglR34I/AAAAAAAAPUk/kZZTHIJuSPAgGQ5WY6qa0IHWrP7tBmS7gCHMYCw/ACS_0079_thumb%255B2%255D?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><p>The short story is: I didn't want to sell Copper. I've tried to do that before, when I had both Joey and Copper. (<a href="http://aridinghabit.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/things-i-have-learnt-joey.html"><em>remember Joey</em></a><em>? He broke my elbow in four places... But he was smart and cute when he wasn't being a brat</em>)<p>Back then I had had a lot of interest in Copper, and on paper he sounds like an ammy rider's dream. The problem is, he is in every way except under saddle.<p>He's got impeccable ground manners, he is an excellent doer, he's got rock solid feet, he travels like a dream, and he's quiet and reliable. He is brilliant no matter how long you throw him out in the paddock for, he will come back to you and try whatever you ask of him. He doesn't break himself very often, and rarely needs a vet. <p>But he's not an easy ride. He is gentle, and can't buck, won't rear. But he is sensitive. He will take off on you if you ride hanging on to his mouth.<p> <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8kR5aAaQE9w/WovmogfX_cI/AAAAAAAAPV4/v-ZO_zR0Doka2CublnxGvnPXKcl-qnsmgCHMYCw/s1600-h/ACS_0078%255B2%255D"><img width="480" height="640" title="Who me?" style="border: 0px currentcolor; border-image: none; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Who me?" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-E_N260dG6v4/WovmqQWH9sI/AAAAAAAAPV8/qddX9hemAZsptFzYjpwOu_jzRemLlf3OQCHMYCw/ACS_0078_thumb%255B1%255D?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><p><br><p>It's funny how many people get on him and can't ride him for nuts. And yes, there was this one time that a lady tried him out and he came so close to bolting on her. She was literally balancing herself on his mouth right from the beginning. He hadn’t even gone two steps before he started to panic. I had to teach her how to do an emergency one rein stop right then and there.<p>The downside is he is also nowhere near educated enough for an experienced rider to take him on. He'd need a super special home and to be honest, I really just couldn't bear the thought of him going somewhere that wouldn't love him for what he is - an honest horse, who is willing to show up do whatever you ask (<em>within reason of course!</em>).<p>So that left me with a huge dilemma! What to do with Copper while we spend two years or so in South East Asia?<p>Thankfully after a lot of agonizing, I found an amazing agistment/spelling place that would take him under unusual circumstances, i.e. - his owner is going away overseas and won't be able to check up on him at all!<p>So we moved him out Yass way. It's an hour out of Canberra, in the middle of nowhere, but it's cheap, and he has taken to the change like a total champ! <p>I finally got to go out and see him on the weekend, and I was sooooo happy when I saw how good he was looking. </p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYxHPjY5Dgo2M0PC0QHqnTwO68RFRlom_iSrrLoi1RynIprAU0x98HlIshja3D_Q0ii0I1pJO4lXylC-IWxNaCK8OHeSHtxXMA8q_8PwFWqSOI2kaLP9l6BvePxjtKAaVVX-Htgg5yV16/s1600-h/ACS_0076%255B1%255D"><img width="480" height="360" title="Conformation shot: Feb, 2018" style="border: 0px currentcolor; border-image: none; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Conformation shot: Feb, 2018. " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihnnf3mjsRfCUEsU2V0gtjyAl2i2GY_sOe9JtXROPLmh2UceKK9MNSNNcditn0oLPL2P7WkxJpbjGcwS-Krn7IvbYyJh36uK-18KDQGqZjJaGf2Vr-viEk2jt912stDQOns15wq5233Arx/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p><p align="center">-<em> Just look at those muscles tho!! He looks so, so good! -</em></p><p>He has been a bit weak and untoned since his bout of stringhalt in 2016 - he lost so much muscle on his hind quarters, particularly around his gaskins. They literally withered away with muscle atrophy. <p>But I swear he looks better than he ever has - except for the time I was riding him regularly and we had a great lesson program, his topline was perfect then... But anyway, right now, despite not being touched for a year, he looks so good. <p>He doesn't have that lovely topline, but he doesn't look like a pregnant land whale, so I am incredibly chuffed to see how well he has done.<p>And of course, I had to ride him! </p><p>I started first with a little bit of groundwork to see what he remembered (<em>all of it – clever boy!</em>) and to gauge what kind of mood he was in - willing to try! </p><p>So I hopped on bareback and toodled around the arena. He felt strong and well shaped underneath me, but stiff. Oh, so very stiff! We had to remember that yes sideways *IS* possible and you can move one foot over at a time. Hah! </p><p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sxSM3gFQE7o/WovmwoeAExI/AAAAAAAAPWI/YEUi9GE6Z9Ay29p_WYA4Y9CPWiEVyVONACHMYCw/s1600-h/ACS_0077%255B1%255D"><img width="480" height="640" title="Big grins" style="border: 0px currentcolor; border-image: none; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Big grins" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Mr7iPHiHQsk/WovmyNwpitI/AAAAAAAAPWM/eO1Z2qT8c0ICPwTWRiPKXO1_RpFt3-qCQCHMYCw/ACS_0077_thumb?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p><p align="center">- <em>Best Pony. Happy Face. -</em></p><p>That's to be expected, and even though he wasn't anywhere as responsive as he normally is, I couldn't stop grinning. Man, I love that horse. <p>We even did a bit of trotting on a 20m circle, and finished the ride off after about twenty or so minutes. Not a long ride, but so satisfactory. <p>I can't tell you how good it's been to be home, but it’s been made even better seeing Copper again.<p>If it was <em>any</em> other horse I wouldn’t be able to do this with him. I just wouldn’t. There’d be no point as the horse would either break themselves in the paddock, or need extra feed, or go mental being left to run wild for that long. But it’s Copper. There’s no way around it, he’s special. <p>He takes it all in his stride and is still a brilliant horse!</p><p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1xf5ED4oQH4/Wovm1HWiogI/AAAAAAAAPWQ/gVlpC3yfMdMe-iTFKynk1JVWG1gC6qM5QCHMYCw/s1600-h/ACS_0082%255B1%255D"><img width="480" height="640" title="The difficulties of taking selfies with your horse. Still smiling though" style="border: 0px currentcolor; border-image: none; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="The difficulties of taking selfies with your horse. Still smiling though" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNXwek1l9yP2CmG_oh1lIc3d8HiXezM_4nOy4AAqL1eWldm1XAR2m2M-l7JXiFEzs1Wn-WeIPP10U5h4vqw7axXy5sMNfGRuwzCZ1mqZ8QBUBfEt2TCkT-wThh0fs97eqz6TJBWzpEYfY/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p><p align="center">- <em>The difficulties of taking selfies with your horse’s giant mug. Still smiling though!!</em> -</p><p>I hope to visit him at least once more before we fly back to Thailand. It's a long way out to see him, but it's so worth it. <p>I also have to make sure his teeth and feet checked over before I leave so that gives me a good reason to get out there, and you better believe I can't wait to ride him again.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHrlkmmvY3Q_hhRxPhm1sNPdSCEjrAaGPdubJ1pD4dOVWJPpP6wfXXJGPS2Lc2m_kXl8-vTP3_039sRgqQpVNLG93ait1CtALS_sYxnzC_ND0if7EjoyNu8qwY7lPM_LNwgwz7ryiXdrqk/s1600-h/ACS_0074%255B1%255D"><img width="480" height="360" title="ACS_0074" style="border: 0px currentcolor; border-image: none; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="ACS_0074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ0f9uZx4QKT5W7fEkh3XeihfJK_45aYlg9Sp-qmia2FbedzSf1ULWHZqSsHBGAQXM9cGDG5DhzaSEszu5W7umtCwcZ28QTzb7dBPbUyl-qmnHM3ibPn7oXuVVAF8H0OD37ZeD1ccG3Dbk/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p><p align="center">- <em>It surprised me to see Copper bossing about the ponies! He is usually the lowest man in the herd, so this was interesting to me. Guess he figured out that he’s bigger then they are! -</em><p align="center"><em><br></em><p>See ya, <p>BonitaLavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-20038387689374357932017-01-15T17:36:00.000-08:002017-04-27T19:58:01.223-07:00My horse is AwesomeSauce<p>I know, I know… Everyone thinks that! And maybe you don’t think that we have accomplished anything to epic from this story but for reals, he’s the best. </p> <p>What did we do?<br></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBRA6ko602IVklSye7KqV-I5W3N9NBpkAiFWMyi3SJBcmJ0j8d_FfvU_ghNOsMohT-6riPUq74Tnpvp13CFMBWxIYNMgVaLgHdRaEtdMwVQPhwyhntEmHOMAT-qJA7i7HrmMq8BA6_zc_e/s1600-h/IMG_3050%255B5%255D"><img title="IMG_3050" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_3050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqS-mE3LDCU3gsBPWqM7BN4-2_UZgJmqZT0sq6HbF37vsW3ejWZTOFptKay-_wRd8kSrPJZRyNbv90KjF-gTYY7nj85M634O58xOEfdT5gzf9TakB8ikTAZV-Qsx5tzD1VIqXwgIAazUr/?imgmax=800" width="360" height="480"> <p align="center"><font color="#000000"><em>- Running braided his mane as it was hot and sunny and I’m glad I did; he was sooooo sweaty by the end! -</em> </font><br></p></a> <p>Oh, just go on a trail ride.</p> <p>Only – here’s the thing… </p> <p>Copper has been chilling in his paddock for the last six months – I’ve been riding every once in a while when I can, but honestly, at this stage that’s happening once every two to three weeks – sometimes even longer than that between rides because I’ve been so ill with my Hypothyroidism.</p> <p>But as we have never had the chance to ride together (<em>we were going to a Working Eq. clinic together but that’s when Copper got stringhalt… TT ^ TT!! </em>) my friend K and I decided to go out on chill trail ride, just walking around for a while at the National Arboretum. We decided that we needed to float out so that it wouldn’t take so long and the ride wouldn’t go for hours. So on New Years Eve, we went riding! </p> <p>I pulled Copper out of the paddock at 8:00am and he just walks right on to the float. (<em>He’s such a good floater - last time he floated out it was our move over a year ago to our current facility.)</em></p> <p>Then we get there an find a spot to park and saddle up. He was just standing there, chilling at the float. He’s just soooo good. </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Fno_2jUPTaI/WQKstV7BG5I/AAAAAAAAOk0/CZTDAAWeuNgVxBUBx51UmpeK9ROw38I7gCHM/s1600-h/IMG_3043%255B8%255D"><img title="IMG_3043" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3043" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yPuUQZlQhrU/WQKsuvt_TVI/AAAAAAAAOk4/3TBWkv7xrmYW-FYRH8MW_l7E9WbgCDOUQCHM/IMG_3043_thumb%255B2%255D?imgmax=800" width="180" height="240"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmlWRmDjpti6eYasj7s2YTHRpI6bJaJcqXdFFCK4LJUX2nut8fvxmtwyDZ-FcauJDn_5nxr6-bH-VpDsMp8YtjZVuzB6EgKv_jwFDW6iMAUZ4RFQxOVGHbqxnGPHXb3RjeY5Jf4LFLAxGq/s1600-h/IMG_3044%255B8%255D"><img title="IMG_3044" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3044" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7tVxWFV1FoAqmSaPq6WhwAyz7XPdqHmvOAuec0O_MGYMl5HTHO11zfyOaQJklTfEPiX9a8Lw6aeicwR_jGtMTm_tpoCES0nL972Tw1yMJvDhnEfMOSYLn7jBlG0XcguWJLcCZjh7wnbmS/?imgmax=800" width="180" height="240"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgljWjFIEa8YLnIu7OwnmxGZ-eafS_OSoYBmPT1Oi5soz2_APwi3z4nh4upW2ol_eF7XjoFT61XDFsnFRD1n1Y3oDyANsLh93eQvgELMYFyDcbklyCNxzmC6JsE50MEUj0rXJiYZL8MKNBL/s1600-h/IMG_3045%255B8%255D"><img title="IMG_3045" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3045" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeNGb9bAvIXHFdXXIUesLNJ3SSM2O-33kqiHltj8wDR196C6KxWBoYqQW5EIHK8Zk9oZNSvWVu6B3sw9IoK3KgWcp_oG9oHbqSDXKWQ22lE4YLPZHnmftJKCUVzzNJM94L8y5rj9XNMDR/?imgmax=800" width="180" height="240"></a><br>- <em>Selfies with the unimpressed poneh -</em></p> <p>I did need my friend to hold him so I could get on… That’s his worst re-occurring fault – if I don’t ride him in a while, he can never stand still for me to mount the first time. </p> <p>But he let me get up okay and then we where walking! We crossed a road and where walking along the fence line of the Zoo & Aquarium. We had to cross a small rain drain that had a cage on top of it. It was on a really steep bit at the bottom of gully with blackberry brambles trailing everywhere – scary stuff! Haha! </p> <p>Copper stood and looked at in for a minute or two and then was all like – “Charrrge!” He just put his thinking cap on and walked right across. I did my usual defensive mode which is slip the reins and grab a hunk of mane! (<em>Never going to cut his mane – haha! It’s my Ohcr*pstrap</em>)</p> <p>We have an understanding - I let him negotiate the tricky bits and even if he gets a bit of momentum and has bit of a run after, or jumps a puddle, my job is just to stay with him and keep my balance so I can help him if I need too, and he takes me with him! Haha! It works for us. :P<br><br>As we were going up the side of the gully, a golf cart came trundling down the hill on the other side of the fence, and Copper scooted past it. We almost were able to stop and wait, but then another, nosier –flappity, flappity – golf cart came past and Copper scooted up the hill away from that one too.</p> <p>While I was struggling to get Copper to stop, the others were struggling to get past the rain drain; both their horses where like “Nope!” but I think when they finally figured out Copper was on the other side they both crossed in a hurry. </p> <p>Then we had a super low underpass to go under, and the other girls with me decided to hop off and lead their horses because they had had trouble with that rain drain. I decided to stay on – I knew I’d be safer as Copper is brave enough to go through, but I was not at all sure I’d be able to get back on him okay! </p> <p>Again, I let the reins droop a little, twisted my fingers into a hunk of mane, and he took a moment to stare, then marched right through. He did have a little spook on the other side when we got out into the sunlight, but I think that was a “just in case there are scary monsters hiding that I couldn’t see” spook – rather than one where he was actually scared! </p> <p>Then we where in the grounds of the Arboretum, with wide fire trails to ride on, lovely smooth dirt roads with a light dusting of small gravel that cut between the swathes of tree plantations. </p> <p>Copper started out really well, with his happy trail walk which is relaxed and forwards – but then, he started to feel – off…</p> <p>I was worried it was his saddle – he’d gotten so fat that there was every chance the gullet could be pinching him. I was worried it was his boots – his feet needed doing and I had to really jam them on, so maybe they were rubbing?</p> <p>I just couldn’t figure it out – he was trying to turn around and go back which he NEVER does unless it’s been like 3 hours! Copper loves trail riding, and I knew something was up, but I couldn’t figure out what. </p> <p>It got so bad as we were riding up the hill that I hopped off, checked his saddle and took off his boots. </p> <p>I gave them to my friend as she had places on her tack she could strap them too, and walked up the hill most of the way. Then I had to get back on Copper ‘coz I was dying! … So unfit!</p> <p>We rode up to the “Wide Brown Land” statue, and hopped off for bathroom break. Then we decided to go around the holding pens on the other side of the hill so that we could leave the horses there while I ran and got us some cold cokes from the café! (<em>It was really hot!</em>)</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6n-mbtToXp8/WQKsy_E3bGI/AAAAAAAAOlM/vBfJ6keRhGo_mcTv2M5cTklDBV2xahPtACHM/s1600-h/IMG_3019%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3019" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3019" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q2c2Bci1_N8/WQKszXsE3kI/AAAAAAAAOlQ/7Lb3PhyJSsccuA1Ou5C93b0cvL0i8uGPACHM/IMG_3019_thumb%255B1%255D?imgmax=800" width="240" height="180"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh_pgpaPqcSiXISz-vtaUBQRzkWRubHDzsB7d-S4Y-7KcSVpPnEwugYX6SVXKPJwUG5fksLqElr84QOk00lLV8objEeIDN1GlNZAxIOtQn7zVfDRelKm6pgeNTFJDij75sC2QBQ9MmwgWF/s1600-h/IMG_3015%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3015" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3015" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-60Q3_BnAmxq7Fq3ljyqyLomCaL1uEWq_ORYR2J2rfqwjzjl6Q2EEQJ96nRJGq_H633exRg9z2QoDfWos-LPu9fV58vgyCRslvzJFkpDjWggDuR4mMcy662BEFP4SlH9q48i2CcrAqyh/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="180"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oAwGXCHQ78U/WQKs21ZikxI/AAAAAAAAOlc/5yOvwO3nFXMMo__VXYzzvvDMDWV6CWolwCHM/s1600-h/IMG_3017%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3017" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3017" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDKwGoUGH3a6W1OMggi6iBR-arOOFpfHuwOAVCFxHt9zUejvksZXQDELWjvODIuG1EC2c7VZ-gcvodz82GLTvDIzwne6J2RxeRlq9JsDx0oXrVOf4pP1J9dKWFFNRCSWfykN9u9O753Q7T/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="180"></a> <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xcqKdx8LUc0/WQKs4d-V6II/AAAAAAAAOlk/KSGYIkEraFw3Zs--situsYt3LMIRGSxXwCHM/s1600-h/IMG_3023%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3023" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3023" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Mj9SkiY3dJY/WQKs5JyJLxI/AAAAAAAAOlo/I7bkqx-Bg708h-iVCdV16iQszVfCuOZ2wCHM/IMG_3023_thumb%255B1%255D?imgmax=800" width="240" height="180"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h7WE8Fg6v0s/WQKs55pa5-I/AAAAAAAAOls/sRwzAgd40g8tHRL8pdoDf8EpUK_zv7VNwCHM/s1600-h/IMG_3037%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3037" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3037" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6uQU-o04wQ8/WQKs7AXVwVI/AAAAAAAAOlw/I5LL7WAeQ18z5EmL4fIeuE7LWaZ4B6sRQCHM/IMG_3037_thumb%255B1%255D?imgmax=800" width="240" height="180"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyNuTXhC-K-fSETZw_hPF_X759ck8THxGdsxkfLUX5Q8so2vBYwubR7iaa-ak1pIJZzH1Xd2Qc0CHbaZArPEGcpK3b0_6-oankcrru78EuRGEb4UQF4Zbdjsk6HMwJrZ9GgcC35ONkE07_/s1600-h/IMG_3038%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3038" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3038" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86tZMEufTNlNRH_4l4dPJu0hGthf7xPK3U5hKfciIcmLnar-xCKfO_0pxpjakUR9qJ563lRPieScoGVIUZkm4x9gcH-sbJNWjPfH0tgtz6pzVkAMeNDb_aCw8LlsL-LRXH3lo1NVpfKVS/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="180"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGW_3Civ-4-zhlRVWjNBz9CvdwkQkJdWbn6ZAexrJo7oqa5qY9pbM71l2eIJfK-_TtQzm_g6CyeUahJeMzn-NdJa3zvPZXo8LUQF-lLPphnrfaudGcycEl0vRi39VFSJRKcf9UIO-QV4Ab/s1600-h/IMG_3039%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3039" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3039" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MmYXqBGfxAvqF7pQqWg2U6Piv08omXOyZR3S-k_pU_nnQ0MfdDB_EBkHEsJdC_vN5n76rGxqedM1GZvkfIP0BOUMhXPdkvL0xYibBZgo7fEwsFajjPggqYNOzks9G-bD_LQABl3Mjyom/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="180"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCBj9Auf0hTnp1kTId9ENIksmc0XvCEUlvcIFdQi5SkbQRdNxuS8olgBTlRq96l9zo5Gdhet47pB2A8Ccan01Ilw-Ofy6Am6wM64vH3galJK1n_V0ldjsLMR2ujGoEg7f_RNbYeTy1IM4I/s1600-h/IMG_3041%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3041" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3041" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JCkOnKBTq9E/WQKtBD19UbI/AAAAAAAAOmI/ZU3FG_aMlXgldrLsIH7Q7d76mgBdccN4wCHM/IMG_3041_thumb%255B1%255D?imgmax=800" width="240" height="180"></a><br>- <em>Up on the top of the “Wide Brown Land” hill. That view between those ears…! The best! -</em></p> <p>I decided to lead Copper to the pens (<em>which were much further away than I had thought… Urgh! Unfit!</em>), and I took off his saddle and bridle when we got there, but left his halter on. (<em>I was riding with his halter and lead rope just in case</em>)</p> <p>Then two of us went to get drinks and one of us stayed with the horses. Apparently, when I left, Copper started spazzing out and being a real hoon! He was racing around the pen, cantering, bucking, farting and being a total silly boy… He also pooped four times. </p> <p>My conclusion? He had a tummy ache… </p> <p>Horses. </p> <p>Because when I tacked up to go again, he was perfectly fine after that!! </p> <p>I was so glad he got that all out, because then we could actually settle in and enjoy the rest of the ride. </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6CnZO5BOeHeVRv9z9_PMsnxnQR3ZUmdoVY4QmWyzy7suKXhP954UzjztFpzIWbO_EnQEMk8a2B25-ga7UppW3flsCwsjN2wp9rNyaYJxg-8BuvFZP529nIy3zGcU2SM_lUWGNdodvHei/s1600-h/IMG_3042%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3042" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3042" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q1XOfGjb1Tw/WQKtC6aKfTI/AAAAAAAAOmQ/yzFuNpsrDN4Yxvf4O3KfF-Fsa1ywpEujQCHM/IMG_3042_thumb%255B1%255D?imgmax=800" width="240" height="180"></a> <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zRoHS0_52SU/WQKtD6Ym5uI/AAAAAAAAOmU/lE9MT-AiJzEOKhbSaD0Pfm8ktniu4oJeQCHM/s1600-h/IMG_3046%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3046" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3046" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rdH6xWBGVQE/WQKtEx3kScI/AAAAAAAAOmY/do49vzsHz-gwqLX03sM-ODEbzocZwvYRwCHM/IMG_3046_thumb%255B1%255D?imgmax=800" width="240" height="180"></a><br>- <em>Friends on horseback are the best kind of friends for a day out exploring! -</em></p> <p>Of course, he still walks too fast for the other horses, so I end up in the lead on my own again. I always ask myself why I bother going with other people when I end up walking by myself for the whole ride! But no; there are lots of other fun moments and times to chat, so it was good. It’s just a little bit annoying that Copper just can’t keep his stride in check so that we can be with everyone else.</p> <p>We went through a super hilly bit next where it was tons of steep slopes up and down ~ of course, that’s always fun, so I let him trot up those pretty quick, and the others would chase us up at a canter. </p> <p>Copper figured out that his fast trot is just as fast a canter, so he mostly stuck with that, and I just stuck with him! </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGarUt1f_-ru41Y47-RsHf91EwH1fg6dmK4j-k8uI3dqhuLJzp_D3byaUcyse39arTcJ4WJUgbIGPYKCkR8TCE1jxXA8acNXaG0SGwq8d07IZ7p7U50hJpI5mbQthyhQXpvoK0ydGT6asg/s1600-h/IMG_3063%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3063" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3063" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EfLxqXhXy4Q/WQKtHLn2YxI/AAAAAAAAOmg/poM0lAUvxFov42UOEu37nOXLFpqF3aEMwCHM/IMG_3063_thumb%255B1%255D?imgmax=800" width="180" height="240"></a> <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dAwRhDLrR68/WQKtIaPTuNI/AAAAAAAAOmk/wxN6bYWpUFw5nz4RHlk60iTHyp0c8DS1QCHM/s1600-h/IMG_3065%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3065" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3065" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0sGrX9Aa5Ng/WQKtI2ihM7I/AAAAAAAAOmo/gikCRw0fzPAE1gDBP5LbOtzE239t1Q67QCHM/IMG_3065_thumb%255B1%255D?imgmax=800" width="180" height="240"></a><br>- <em>Go pony, goooo!! -</em></p> <p>Then we where on the stretch home, and by this stage, we were both pretty pooped. For the first time ever, Copper volunteered to drop from a trot to a walk all of his own violation! Haha! </p> <p>I was pretty happy when we made it back around to the underpass, and I think he was too. We were miles ahead of my friends, when I realised they’d stoped to take photos of the tigers at the zoo.</p> <p>As we where passing by, the tigers had smelt our sweaty horses and were trying to jump the fence and get at us! Of course, they couldn’t, but they were pretty riled up about us just standing a few feet away from them and smelling delicious apparently. </p> <p>It took a little bit of convincing Copper to turn around up the hill to be with the others, but he suddenly realised they were up there, and he did it. Then we continued on past the storm drain back to the floats. </p> <p>When we had made it past the drain, Copper stopped at the top of the hill and his head was hanging, and his legs were shaking. Poor boy was so tired!</p> <p>I said – Right, I don’t care what the others think of me, I’m walking him back! So I jumped off him and loosened his girth. And he perked right up again after a couple of mouthfuls of grass. </p> <p>Haha, always thinking of his tummy…</p> <p>We had a bit of a ways to go, but they did think I was doing the right thing, so I was happy leading him back to the floats. </p> <p>Then we all sat around eating chips, grooming the horses and trying to convince them to drink the water. </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtXLMHR4sRiqGsfh34qEvhaeESDhao8EMmuDNzJ6PYoZNWSSn6xkUvKopxvol8gaa_weSxnQQJc4o_RGLsEfCZ4qhMBQ4G7W8Uk4bALsANt7PthbZIORhusy-B05weSUesbSNAlQWN92x-/s1600-h/IMG_3068%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3068" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3068" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UO7M7TBnV2w/WQKtKg8NWiI/AAAAAAAAOmw/HAGY5ljPAlcUIqEm2rPcbn6WCMzO2ZpMgCHM/IMG_3068_thumb%255B1%255D?imgmax=800" width="180" height="240"></a> <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6Sf9SAObKmY/WQKtLRxnePI/AAAAAAAAOm0/M_k_SWCGBY8vefwZvssalezJjMnGJEJtQCHM/s1600-h/IMG_3067%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3067" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3067" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZ9YQx7U14ibcuiI32E3qHs5aWEVaTiUbxdNWcRF4FuK-fqiCGGksAIsz3aYZeM4Webqcb0afS1cQeB5QzVqE2ApCVfALULQAyehzhnX7326r9Mn8AAqDYHtqxIIb0uKe3pQCRyBqo-cY/?imgmax=800" width="180" height="240"></a><br>- <em>Chilling with the mates after the fun; chips for the human beanz, pine cones and grass for the ponies –</em><br><br><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O02FJhvw0zE/WQKtNeepcuI/AAAAAAAAOm8/8RMP9qVrMs8qEdBH6_YKChvyb-5oow6jACHM/s1600-h/IMG_3066%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3066" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3066" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3eDqT2_ehpo/WQKtOgssklI/AAAAAAAAOnA/oPg_M6QMMus8cp8yEsUIuC0zxwt29MHXACHM/IMG_3066_thumb%255B1%255D?imgmax=800" width="240" height="180"></a> <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5-YHXeaVLdg/WQKtPRMS3mI/AAAAAAAAOnE/0HPR-fuUWtsYKv5RlwVXaGqHeGO1kWXzACHM/s1600-h/IMG_3071%255B4%255D"><img title="IMG_3071" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3071" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_YbAbdGGke5QUmzYuYLRrZW9ayMN6NKgEuO5uVaZUbeUjOz7x_ApLJvX_aQO5tQm9xnq9Moxv3QTLdS-3PbF3JDtpdh2sxitMZ1vSdml-PJpH1BtZZyj_1Yg_TpTjkUIELYhoiRgJyxfu/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="180"></a><br>- <em>When he literally wants to go home and stuff his face…. -</em></p> <p>Copper ate pine needles, hoovered up the grass and tried to eat a pine cone!! It was absolutely the funniest thing I have ever seen him do!!<br><br>He was standing there with the dopiest look on his face, the pine cone hanging from his teeth, flapping his top lip like he was trying to figure out how he could actually get it into his mouth! </p> <p>I cracked up, but of course he dropped it before I could get a picture… :/</p> <p>When they were well rested and completely cooled off, we loaded them back up and took them all back home. </p> <p>Copper was very happy to see his girl friend, who was neighing a greeting to him, then he got down to the serious business of putting back on all the weight he’d lost from that exercise. </p> <p>Horse, you are all stomach at this point – you could stand to loose some! </p> <p>And that is the long and somewhat boring story of why my horse is awesome and I love him the bestest. </p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita</p>Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-36636546943423884142016-10-22T01:01:00.001-07:002016-10-26T23:19:56.851-07:00Facing Reality<p>It has been one of those years. </p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G_1JvWCq4eg/WAscxvU_zHI/AAAAAAAAOPo/S2cfRSabs9wzcV7vKY9jGfUUEBWl1_BhwCHM/s1600-h/IMG_5115%255B2%255D"><img title="IMG_5115" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_5115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC8bNIe_L2zfCKYWhkZmzJhmwX1PsuQd2cbJIemymr5mzoZRPjYNE_OaS76ORtrm2hsLUvEd8TskaXZUB38jG5VApk8kRM7tFL63uuDV3HssbkM4ZFxJd640KDWTJwj-oLeF6OA1GN8kz7/?imgmax=800" width="480" height="360"></a><br><br>I know that it’s been ages since the last update and for good reason.</p> <p>I have been so overwhelmed by all the drama going on that I just could not cope with riding, or anything more than feeding and grooming him. And sometimes, even that was a difficult stretch…. Yeah. It was that bad… </p> <p>I really can’t go into the details, also, I really don’t want to revisit it. But in my last post (<em>aptly titled <a href="http://aridinghabit.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/stringhalt-attack-part-ii-barn-drama.html">Barn Drama</a></em>), I was relating the problems we’d had at the beginning of this year with our new paddock arrangements. I thought we had gotten through it, and I had been feeling cautiously optimistic that we may have found a workable solution. </p> <p>Turns out, not so much.</p> <p>The subsequent incident that exploded on us in July was far worse than the one at the beginning of the year, and left me with very few options to work with. Suffice to say, we did manage to find a spot for Copper at the paddocks, but the consequences of the whole event affected him and I for months after. I didn’t ride for months, and even now, it’s not a sure thing that I will ride just once a week.</p> <p>The fallout is still affecting us daily. </p> <p>I don’t know if next year I will still be able to keep my horse. That’s how bad it is… It breaks my heart to even <em>think</em> of selling him, but I can’t see how we will get around it when winter comes. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5UEg1lh98bUHHjw54bP46Z3J1mV7zfPE-nFObnP8Yk2iOdv8uzwmSTyA0CVYgwBIG38mjkkMfV7Bi76Fpkf1DBPxTqZOpIS5BrAw2LZybyaDlbINYGtnSCXvg_OiOhwlofwbOOCvhulp/s1600-h/IMG_83355.jpg"><img title="IMG_8335" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_8335" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DuQmDIz-8Qg/WAsc1G6AezI/AAAAAAAAOPc/zq9vV6W2C7s/IMG_8335_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="480" height="480"></a></p> <p>So for now, I’m not thinking that far ahead.</p> <p>I just can’t. </p> <p>I can’t keep thinking about the whys, the hows, and the what-do-I-dos of keeping my horse. I’m just taking it one day at a time. </p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_gxF_q06r5U/WAsc19UvVmI/AAAAAAAAOPg/lvQyfXMY1GU/s1600-h/12801656_593738090782357_17107422948%25255B1%25255D.jpg"><img title="12801656_593738090782357_1710742294844914256_n" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="12801656_593738090782357_1710742294844914256_n" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wl_rtmvODTo/WAsc2vV3FyI/AAAAAAAAOPk/vWr6bYCmILI/12801656_593738090782357_17107422948.jpg?imgmax=800" width="576" height="480"></a></p> <p>Every chance I get to ride is the best day ever, and I’m not thinking any further than that. </p> <p>See ya,</p> <p>Bonita </p>Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-67958416353996480752016-07-06T21:33:00.001-07:002016-07-06T21:33:22.516-07:00Stringhalt Attack – Part II: Barn Drama<p>It wasn’t enough for Copper to come down with string halt and basically be completely broken and mostly unrideable for the next twelve to eighteen months, oh no….</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN8BesC_1UzIMB4iMxsFlMC2lPLo11v99FrsZKY3X2f6_RE3PqYe7dxvriBHOqaih15HHC5STVHrhPft69CwN6bMFEQTmK9GYSUek8X5ltzE0leIj1BBSHDoSzIRIh6MZNq6BfK0892oQA/s1600-h/IMG_1661%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1661" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1661" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4eIWp3UccPMPOpJ6xWxbZ8dIHlWcTqF1PCp_9fgnbvTLesTEJKiduxCMviDrcy9niJ9WdNkLuUgmz-ncH_YhbfowJqjdDmyQ4eaVZipfwrTlY3kOhjQGjwQ8xGDPhmtjcDQqmsHiw2N6c/?imgmax=800" width="400" height="300"></a></p> <p>Unfortunately, his string halt diagnosis brought on a whole pile of barn drama that had to be dealt with as well, and that was a saga in and of itself!</p> <p>The set up with the private paddocks at our facility work like this:</p> <p>Someone buys into the paddock with a $2,500 deposit and now “owns” the rights to the land. They are responsible for all interior fencing, and the care and management of the pasture, barring weed spraying. They are allowed to buy and set up any structures they may like to within the guidelines; this can be as simple as a garden shed to hold tack, to a stable, muck heap, hay shed, yards, etc - the full she-bang. </p> <p> The owners of the private paddock are then allowed to host a “guest” to help defray the weekly cost of agistment - or rent on the land.</p> <p>I moved into a private two horse paddock as a guest, and well, ended up with a homeless horse. </p> <p>It’s a long and involved story, but it started earlier than the stringhalt. Previously, there’d been a few issues as we were settling into the shared arrangement – things like the owner moving horses around and not filling up water troughs properly, not telling me when the worming was happening so the worming didn’t happen simultaneously on both horses like it needs too, gates getting broken, (<em>Copper apparently tried to jump a gate and bent it! But must have scrambled over somehow…</em>) – incidents that can cause problems at the time, but honestly, I thought we’d moved past all of it. </p> <p>When the problems occurred, I’d done my best to communicate clearly and fix any issues my horse had caused. In short, I’d done my best to hold up my end of the bargain and be a responsible guest. </p> <p>However, when the vet said that Copper absolutely had to be kept off the the flatweed and needed to be penned/yarded for as long as necessary, all hell kind of broke loose and we were basically threatened to be kicked out of the paddock. I had to let Copper back into the paddocks (<em>because someone else down there had said that would be okay to do… Um, what?! Since when do we veto vet’s orders with a random’s “advice”?</em>) or move him out in three weeks. The situation came down to the fact that it was inconvenient for the owner to let him stay in the only yard area that was suitable, and she wasn’t happy that he had to be in there. </p> <p>Past issues were dragged up again, and though I did my best to handle the situation, I knew it wasn’t going to work any longer. I didn’t want to stay somewhere where I wasn’t welcome and were I couldn’t trust the owner to deal with the necessary management of my horse in a reasonable manner.</p> <p>To top it all off while this back and forth was happening – Copper developed a lymphatic systemic reaction. </p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GqBhoXljJxI/V33biYUk8II/AAAAAAAAN7o/3rvUJ4k86l8/s1600-h/IMG_1810%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1810" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1810" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7XuBcu5x7R8/V33bi05vPQI/AAAAAAAAN7s/_0eWpX63j8Q/IMG_1810_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="300"></a>- <em>Wut you meenz; I iz twubble? Corz not!! Now FEED me human bean! -</em></p> <p>It started off as a bump above his right eye, and I thought that maybe a bit of dust or hayseed from the round bale he was eating from had gotten in his eye and caused the swelling. I’d seen that happen before, <a href="http://aridinghabit.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/the-seriousness-of-eye-injuries-in.html">the incident that developed a partial cataract</a> on the outside edge of his left eye. I palpitated all around the eye and couldn’t see any redness, weeping, or tenderness. </p> <p>The next day I came out to check on him and it had gone down, so I kept a close eye on it. Come the day after and it had drained down under his jaw. I thought that was really odd – was it an abscess that had moved? I put Tuff Rock on it to see if it would burst and drain, like what had happened when he had a possible case of <a href="http://aridinghabit.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/wither-abscess-or-fistulous-withers.html">fistulous withers</a>. </p> <p>Nothing happened so I called the vet – my vet was away on holidays, so I had to call someone else about it, and it was four days after the bump had first appeared. Not-my-vet was concerned it was a case of strangles…. I was like Huh??? </p> <p>Note that: </p> <p>- Copper had absolutely no discharge from the nostrils </p> <p>- No fever</p> <p>- Was bright eyed and eating his food </p> <p>- Swelling was only under one side of the jaw </p> <p>Anywho, I then had to remove Copper into an isolation paddock as per the vet’s recommendation. </p> <p>So we walked him down to the hospital paddock which is near the main office buildings and stables, and set him up in there until the vet could assess him. </p> <p>Blood test that revealed nothing and a double course of antibiotics later, so – two weeks in total - Copper still had a lump under his jaw and was still stuck in the hospital paddock. </p> <p>Then the day after he finished those antibiotics, his back legs puffed up like sausages from the hocks down. I took his rugs off to discover he had swollen lumps all underneath his body, and a swollen sheath besides. </p> <p>I had a chat to the manager and she confirmed my suspicions that the swelling was in his lymphatic system – he had a case of systemic edema. As it was a public holiday when this cropped up, as well as a Sunday (<em>!! Why horse, why??</em>) we decided that we’d see how he was doing in the evening and call the vet out the next day if there was no improvement. </p> <p>Copper seemed a bit down and quiet at this point, but he didn’t have a temperature, and was eating quite well. So besides being a bit moody, all his systems were functional and his vitals were sound. </p> <p>I was very relieved to come back that evening to discover the swelling had gone down by half! The next day it was still there, but less and by the middle of the week he was fine again. </p> <p>Ugh. Horses. </p> <p>I still have no idea what caused the reaction – it wasn’t bacterial, the vet didn’t think it was viral, so??? Stress perhaps?</p> <p>My reasoning was this: he has been used to a way large grazing area (up to 10 or 12 acre paddocks), a large herd and a much more “natural” way of living. </p> <p>Since moving, his grazing has be cut down to 1.5 acre paddocks at most, then he got stringhalt, was yarded in a tiny paddock area and had to be hard fed with round bale hay, and hard feed everyday. </p> <p>On top of that, he was now separated from his one and only paddock mate, but then even worse, he was isolated for two weeks. </p> <p>After that reaction, we kept him there for a day or two to monitor him, but then we had to make decisions about whether to move him back to the old paddock where the owner did not want us, or wait it out and try to find a new paddock to move into asap. </p> <p>We decided to wait it out, and after one failed match up, we finally found a new situation.</p> <p>Six weeks of living in the hospital paddock, being homeless hobos, and Copper moved into a new home! </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2w8XrVTNPoccYFLpItf_qpnEx2pdmE4ALwRPudJm0h2VubOjQawoiK-DFQczzKvxj6WJWBkhmwZmZmw7C8VQk5e1sqBSAOLMoX6E6BnrzQfDhsCbqCTgts42b9dgavne81vHHgcmMCkw5/s1600-h/IMG_1419%252520%2525281%252529%25255B11%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1419 (1)" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1419 (1)" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aTE3YDwmsoM/V33bkK6TWwI/AAAAAAAAN70/DLKkFJWzRc8/IMG_1419%252520%2525281%252529_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="300"></a></p> <p>Thankfully, he appears to have settled in nicely at the new place, and he has made friends with the chestnut mare who is more than happy to boss him about.</p> <p>I’m happy there too – after a bit of stress and hassle getting everything organized at the new place, including a lot of flooding and swamp situations when winter really kicked in and brought buckets of rain (<em>and</em> <em>we still need to sort out the stable, but we’ll get there</em>) – I think everything seems to have worked out well. </p> <p>Our new host is super lovely, and her mare is gorgeous. Copper is quite content and happy I think (<em>he loves all the extra cuddles and treats he’s getting at the moment : P </em>) and we have great facilities at our new home that are proving to be invaluable for winter. </p> <p>But *whew!* such barn drama! </p> <p>And to be honest, I am really uncomfortable with the whole owner/guest arrangement now. Yes, at the moment everything appears to be fine, but I had thought that previously, only to be booted out of our paddock over a situation that I had absolutely no control over. You can bet your buttons I wouldn’t have yarded Copper unless I absolute had too, and you can also bet I would have done anything I could to keep him from getting stringhalt, but you just can’t control these things sometimes!! </p> <p>So while I really do hope things continue to go well with our current arrangement, I am also thinking that we will start saving for our “own” paddock. One day, if we need it, then at least we’ll have that option. </p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita</p>Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-74933111708300883782016-06-28T19:43:00.001-07:002016-06-28T19:43:15.769-07:00Dissecting the Seat – Part 4: Biomechanics of “Bearing Down” and plugging your seat in with the horse’s movement<p>Expanding from <a href="http://aridinghabit.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/dissecting-seat-part-3-advanced.html">this post</a>, a more in-depth explanation about the biomechanics of the seat and how it affects the horse’s energy an “thoroughness” in an excerpt from <a href="http://www.mary-wanless.com/Article42.html">Mary Wanless's Article 42</a>.<br> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bT90EY6Xv_Q/V3M1voQXicI/AAAAAAAANwc/8JNuPjzpXYA/s1600-h/april_1%25255B3%25255D.gif"><img title="april_1" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="april_1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLkmnOFgEqfEJCcKGNfD_c0N0t9AW2tdlRLlAhVsMgBS3N0Fd00Lcf2X6ggciYjVekR6semI8KCcsHr6l4HWkV4CRdXYTWqJFXyBxAfdBx9ef3JkWR1mrEBgGQJnUN-UARDhEoiTF3QlT/?imgmax=800" width="212" height="240"></a> <p><em>…When a rider is having this problem, I like to say "Imagine that we could perform a surgical operation, and insert a fishing rod just beneath the horse’s mane. If it had a small fish on the end of it, it would make a slight curve throughout its length. The whole length of his neck should ideally feel as if it really were hung from a fishing rod. But you may find that the rod has soggy bits, or even that it’s missing completely. What do you sense is happening here?".<br><br>People can normally answer this question very easily, and you can probably imagine from looking at the photo that the fishing rod ends two thirds of the way up the horse’s neck. What is much less obvious is that the fishing rod will also be soggy at the base of the horse’s neck. This is the part which the rider must repair first - and amazingly, just thinking like this is often enough to fix the problem! Having reorganized the base of the neck the rider can then successfully think about the top of it …<br><br>Horses find it very difficult to make the correct connection from the hind leg, over the croup, under the panels of the saddle, and up the crest of the neck. Think of this as an energy connection, or as water flowing through a hose. When complete the circuit continues through the rein to the rider’s arm and back, so that the energy received into her body rejoins the original conduit. This connection gives the rider a very correct influence, and enables the horse to seek a light contact with the rider’s hand, and, potentially, to "sit himself down". How wonderful horses look when they achieve this! But it requires very skilful, correct riding, and the lengthening of the horse’s spine mirrors the "use" which people aspire to when they have lessons in the Alexander Technique.<br><br>This horse breaks the circuit both at the base and at the top of the neck. He also is not "sitting himself down" – if anything I think he is raising his croup to evade this demand. Instead of maintaining the correct connection whilst shortening his whole frame as he would in collection, he has scrunched his neck backwards whilst lifting his croup. So things have gone rather awry - and as always, the rider is unknowingly playing a part in allowing this to happen.<br><br>She too has lost the ideal connection in her own spine, this time by stretching it too much and in the wrong way. From her waist she has separated both halves of her body, drawing her ribs up and stretching her legs down. If we could see the shape of her back, I am sure we would find that it is hollow. However, we all hear so much about "growing up tall and stretching your legs down" that our rider will almost certainly believe that she is sitting correctly! But I like to think of riding as a martial art, and this is not the stance used by good martial artists, who understand that this kind of stretching renders you much less stable and effective.<br><br><u>If you stand in a martial arts position and then exaggeratedly grow tall and lift your chest, you will find yourself all but holding your breath. You will also feel very tense and unstable. Then drop your ribs down towards your hips, so that you remove the hollow from your back. (Doing this sideways on to a long mirror will give you the clearest feedback.) For added strength, you can then engage your abdominal muscles in the way I call "bearing down". Cough, giggle, or clear your throat, and then maintain that muscle use.</u> Your major difficulty might then become breathing, for to bear down continuously you must use diaphragmatic breathing, which only seems to come easily to people who run, sing, or who have learnt to play a wind instrument. <br><br>Many people who "grow up tall" are shocked by my insistence that they <u>need to drop their rib cage</u>. By comparison, they often feel slouched or round shouldered – so they are convinced that this new idea must be wrong. Some have heard the idea from the Alexander Technique that they should think of themselves "<u>being pulled up by a string attached to the top of the head". These words, however, are intended to describe a much more subtle <strong>expansiveness through the whole back and neck</strong>, which is <strong>not the same </strong>as this hollow backed version of growing tall.<br></u><br>The version of "stretching your leg down" which accompanies the wrong way of "growing up tall" becomes an attempt to get your knee beneath your hip to and make your whole leg vertical. This usually generates a strong pressure into the stirrup, which pushes the heel down and forward. If you are sitting in a chair as you read this, push one foot hard down into the floor, and realise how doing so tends to lift that side of your pelvis. Your body is obeying Newton’s third law of motion, which states that "every action has an equal and opposite reaction" ie. every push down will create an equal and opposite push up. This is one of the main reasons why people usually sit to the trot better without their stirrups – for they cannot then push down on them, and do not experience the straightening of their joints which then sends their backside up out of the saddle.<br><br>This bodily use opens the angle between the leg and the body too much, and it plays into the horse’s evasive pattern. (It would take me too long to explain to you exactly how this happens.) So to change her horse, this rider needs to change herself, completing her part of the circuit before she can complete his. I would like to see her bring her lower leg back underneath her and lighten her pressure into the stirrup. Creating a vertical shoulder/hip/heel line will make her feel as if her heel is back and up, and the change will probably horrify her! She also needs to spread the weight which does go into the stirrup over the entire width of her foot, and not roll her ankles over to weight the outside of the foot. The next step is to think of the thigh and calf making an arrowhead shape, in which the knee is the point of the arrow. This means that she will no longer be "stretching her leg down" in the way she is now.<br><br>Simultaneously, she needs to drop her ribs down towards her hips, and to take the hollow out of her back. This too may horrify her. It is as if she <u>needs to shrink both ends of her body towards the middle</u> – and into a martial arts stance. Then she is in a position for make the "fishing rod" idea work for her.</em></p> <p><strong>How to feel the “bearing down”: excerpt from <a href="http://www.mary-wanless.com/Article37.html">Article 37</a></strong></p> <p><img src="http://www.mary-wanless.com/siteimages/52.jpg"></p> <p><em>With your seat bones pointing down and your feet flat on the floor, put one hand under your sternum, and put the thumb and first finger of the other hand each side of your spine at waistband level. Then clear your throat. You should feel your muscles push out against your hands. Put your hands on your sides and repeat the experiment. Then place the fingers of one hand half way between your belly button and your pubic bone, and clear your throat again.<br><br>Sam is riding as if she is doing this permanently. I first called this use of your abdominal muscles ‘bearing down’, although I now think that ‘bear out’ might have been a better term, <u>since it does not make you sit heavier</u>. <strong><u>Wherever you have soft tissue, i.e. in the entire band around your waist between your ribs and your hips, and all down your abdominal muscles from your sternum to your pubic bone, your guts push against your skin. Think of pulling your stomach in, making the muscles into a wall, and then pushing against that wall. It is as if your torso were a jam jar or a baked bean tin, and the contents of the tin are under pressure, pushing against the edges, but without deforming the shape of the container.<br></u></strong><br>The next difficulty arises with the need to breathe and bear down both at the same time. <u>This requires diaphragmatic breathing</u>, which will be familiar to you if you have learnt to sing or play a wind instrument. In this, the ribs expand outwards but do not lift up: think of the air being drawn down into your abdomen, as if pair of bellows down there was sucking the air in.<br><br>Bearing down whilst breathing well is a big deal for most riders – I suggest that people practice whilst driving their car, for this has to become a way of life… </em></p> <p><em>….</em></p> <p>I’m delving more into the biomechanics of riding, because I believe that a lot of what I am reading here I have either experienced in person while playing around with my seat connection on Copper, or it is something that I <em>need</em> to experience because it’s a missing connection.</p> <p>The subtle feedback of a horse’s energy into your body as you position your skeleton in different ways – releasing some muscles, holding others – is a endless book to learn from. But I am trying to read this book all by myself and if there is insight to be found, I am more than happy to learn elsewhere!</p> <p>More pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. </p> <p>One thing I do know more and more for certain from this journey I’ve been on: THE RIDERS WHOLE BODY INFLUENCES THE HORSES WHOLE BODY</p> <p>… How I breathe, how I tilt my head, hold my neck, bend or straighten my wrist, shift my left seat bone, etc… <em>It’s a matter of learning where to place each individual part of me so that it is most effective in influencing Copper’s energy and movement.</em> </p> <p>The riding masters know that, I wish that more teachers would teach that instead of focusing so much on the horse. Get the rider right and 90% of the work is already done.…</p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita</p>Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-41228344609885319872016-06-15T19:18:00.001-07:002016-06-15T19:20:31.417-07:00Stringhalt Attack – Part I: All the Flatweed<p>This story has been a long time coming; it’s rather involved and I’ve been so busy managing Copper that I simply haven’t had time to write it. It’s also the reason I’ve been so quiet on this blog… </p> <p>Ever since March our whole routine has been turned upside down because Copper contracted string halt. It was only a fairly mild case with grade 1 lameness and slight paralysis on the right side of the Sternocephalicus muscle (<em>the long skinny muscle under the neck from jaw to chest</em>). But if you didn’t already know this; string halt <em><strong><u>sucks</u></strong></em>. </p> <p align="center">* * *</p> <p><em><font size="2"><b>Stringhalt</b> is a sudden </font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexion"><em><font size="2">flexion</font></em></a><em><font size="2"> of one or both hind legs in the </font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse"><em><font size="2">horse</font></em></a><em><font size="2">, most easily seen while the horse is </font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking"><em><font size="2">walking</font></em></a><em><font size="2"> or </font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trotting"><em><font size="2">trotting</font></em></a><em><font size="2">. It is most evident when the horse is backing up slowly, turning on the affected leg, or suddenly frightened. It can involve one or both hind legs of the horse. <u>It is a </u></font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spasm"><em><u><font size="2">spasmodic</font></u></em></a><em><u><font size="2"> contraction of the lateral extensor tendons of the hind legs.</font></u></em></p> <h4><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stringhalt&action=edit&section=1"><font size="2">Australian stringhalt</font></a></h4> <p><em><font size="2">Australian stringhalt was described and differentiated from classical stringhalt in 1884.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stringhalt#cite_note-Huntington-3">[3]</a></sup> Australian stringhalt is differentiated from classical stringhalt by the severity, occurrence of outbreaks, distinct seasonal pattern and the ability of affected horses to recover spontaneously.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stringhalt#cite_note-Slocombe-4">[4]</a></sup> This condition is characterised by the sudden exaggerated flexion of either one or both </font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hock_(anatomy)"><em><font size="2">hocks</font></em></a><em><font size="2">. This form of stringhalt most commonly occurs in the summer and autumn while horses are out on pasture. Epidemics of Australian stringhalt are usually witnessed during </font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drought"><em><font size="2">drought</font></em></a><em><font size="2"> or abnormally dry conditions.</font></em> <h5><em>Affected areas in the horse[</em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stringhalt&action=edit&section=2"><em>edit</em></a><em>]</em></h5> <p><em><font size="2">The long digital extensor muscle (usually in the hind limb) is the muscle that appears to be the most affected by this condition.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stringhalt#cite_note-Huntington-3">[3]</a></sup> The most severe muscle </font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesion"><em><font size="2">lesions</font></em></a><em><font size="2"> have been found within the long and lateral digital extensors and lateral deep digital flexor. The location of neuromuscular lesions in Australian stringhalt may be explained by the susceptibility of longer, larger myelinated nerve fibres to injury.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stringhalt#cite_note-Slocombe-4">[4]</a></sup> Regenerating nerve fibres with disproportionately thin </font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myelin_sheath"><em><font size="2">myelin sheaths</font></em></a><em><font size="2"> are more common in the proximal parts of affected nerves in horses with Australian stringhalt. </font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distal_axonopathy"><em><font size="2">Distal axonopathy</font></em></a><em><font size="2"> occurs most severely in the longest nerve in the horse.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stringhalt#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup> The cause for this distal axonopathy remains unknown.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stringhalt#cite_note-Slocombe-4">[4]</a></sup></font></em> <h5><em>Treatment[</em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stringhalt&action=edit&section=3"><em>edit</em></a><em>]</em></h5> <p><em><font size="2">Horses affected with this condition rarely recover without surgical intervention, although there have been some instances where horses have recovered without treatment. The recovery time in affected horses can range from three months to three years.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stringhalt#cite_note-Huntington-3">[3]</a></sup> Horses may be affected so severely that </font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia"><em><font size="2">euthanasia</font></em></a><em><font size="2"> is necessary. It is unknown how long it takes for </font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_sign"><em><font size="2">clinical signs</font></em></a><em><font size="2"> to develop after the exposure to the cause of the condition.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stringhalt#cite_note-Huntington-3">[3]</a></sup></font></em> <p><em><font size="2">The majority of horses affected by stringhalt are dependent upon pasture for nutrition.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stringhalt#cite_note-Huntington-3">[3]</a></sup> Removal of the horse from its original paddock containing low-quality pasture, weeds and native grasses, along with dietary control, was the most common and successful treatment. Lateral digital extensor </font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tenectomy&action=edit&redlink=1"><em><font size="2">tenectomy</font></em></a><em><font size="2"> has also been used as a treatment by veterinarians with a success rate of just over 50%.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stringhalt#cite_note-Huntington-3">[3]</a></sup></font></em> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenytoin"><em><font size="2">Phenytoin</font></em></a><em><font size="2"> has been used in the management of Australian stringhalt.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stringhalt#cite_note-phenytoin-6">[6]</a></sup> Two weeks after treatment with phenytoin, significant improvement was observed in the gait abnormality of horses affected with Australian stringhalt at the trot and canter, but no significant improvement was observed at the walk or while turning.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stringhalt#cite_note-phenytoin-6">[6]</a></sup></font></em> <h5><em>Causes[</em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stringhalt&action=edit&section=4"><em>edit</em></a><em>]</em></h5> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hypochaeris_radicata_plant1_(14632148832).jpg"><font size="2"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Hypochaeris_radicata_plant1_%2814632148832%29.jpg/220px-Hypochaeris_radicata_plant1_%2814632148832%29.jpg" width="220" height="165"></font></a> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hypochaeris_radicata_plant1_(14632148832).jpg"><font size="2"></font></a> <p><em><font size="2">- H. radicata is linked to some cases of stringhalt in horses. -</font></em> <p><em><font size="2">The most common plant species that have been found and identified in pastures where affected horses were located include: flatweed (</font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypochaeris_radicata"><em><font size="2">Hypochaeris radicata</font></em></a><em><font size="2">), sheep's sorrel (</font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumex_acetosella"><em><font size="2">Rumex acetosella</font></em></a><em><font size="2">) and couch grass (</font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elymus_repens"><em><font size="2">Elymus repens</font></em></a><em><font size="2">). The type of nerve damage sustained in horses with Australian stringhalt suggests a mould toxin (</font></em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycotoxin"><em><font size="2">mycotoxin</font></em></a><em><font size="2">) or a fungal 'poison' found in the soils may be a cause for this condition. Mycotoxins can directly affect the long myelinated nerves in the hind limbs.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stringhalt#cite_note-Huntington-3">[3]</a></sup></font></em> <p align="center">* * *</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pwJ7n85nSq0/V2IMguYdCSI/AAAAAAAANtQ/RU8qDghYMnI/s1600-h/IMG_8335%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_8335" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_8335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzF0h5kpXy3wGZFkML5IwfRt-GBGTSI2DcNuIQfo-faRbU22UKqNXpZFHj-podlnz4HhtGUZ2xReT-UYZ_1xr84AikO4Z-JBKFovT-wNHdZkRwmttKXVmRC5yUTKBwA2JBFBwC9SiPMDYz/?imgmax=800" width="480" height="480"></a></p> <p align="center">- <em>Pasture looking just fine… *sigh* -</em></p> <p>Which is a long winded way to say that Copper had to be locked up off his pasture effective immediately and started on handfeeding 24/7. </p> <p>When we moved to the pasture, I had an idea that the forage was a mixed bag - there seemed to be a lot of tussock grass, a variety of weeds and other native grasses. </p> <p>However, what I didn’t realise was that there was also a TON of flatweed in that paddock until in the late summer it was popping up EVERYWHERE. Basically, at that stage in the season, the paddock was tussock grass and flatweed. And horses don’t eat tussock grass. So. </p> <p>It just didn’t click that Copper was in danger from all that flatweed until I was sick for a week and couldn’t visit him. During that time he didn’t receive any of his hard feed with his <a href="http://www.farmalogic.com.au/equine-vit-min/">Equine Vitamin&Mineral</a> supplement, which includes the necessary magnesium, vitamin E and selenium that helps to treat/manage stringhalt. </p> <p>Looking back, I think he might have actually had a touch of stringhalt for awhile, but didn’t fully succumb to it until he didn’t have the minerals to help his body process the toxins. </p> <p>He had had a touch of the hind leg contraction when backing for several weeks before then, and was stiff when moving off after standing still for a prolonged period. But he had also been a lot more stocked up in the hind legs since moving to the new paddocks, partly from his injuries when running through the fence, and partly from standing around a lot more. </p> <p>And to be honest – he’s getting on. 15 rising 16, so I put it down to old age I’m afraid. Especially when he didn’t have any trouble moving sideways, and the backing up was only an issue if he wasn’t warmed up and had been stationary for half an hour or so while I groomed him. </p> <p>The signs were there, but they were <em>so</em> slight, I really didn’t twig to what it might be… </p> <p>Not until I finally got out to see him again. We were going to ride in another W.E. clinic that weekend, but when he was walking up to me from the paddock I could instantly see he was off. Majorly off in both back legs. </p> <p>I caught him, and hoped that maybe he’d thrown his back out again (<em>he does that from time to time as he’s always had weak loin coupling and every once in awhile when he’s been a doofus bombing around the paddock he’d tweak his back, then be fine in a week or two with a rest.</em>).</p> <p>But nope. When he got closer, I could see the characteristic jerk, jerk, jerk of the hind legs as he walked and it didn’t take more than a little ask for a hind quarter yield (<em>not good</em>), and a back up (<em>can’t do that</em>) to be 98.5% sure he had stringhalt. Bilateral lameness and the convulsive movement where both pretty telling. *<em>sigh</em>*<em> </em> </p> <p>The vet came out the next day and only confirmed what I’d thought. He ordered that Copper wasn’t to even <em>breathe</em> flatweed, and he was to be put on the fullest dosage of Equine Vit&Min, which is 80gms a day. The best they can do for stringhalt is treating with magnesium, vitamin E and selenium. Beyond that, there’s an anti-spasmodic drug injection if the horse is so convulsed they can’t move. I’ve seen cases that bad before, but thankfully Copper never came near that. </p> <p>I was allowed to ride him as long as he could bear my weight and walk. As movement is also encouraged to help treat stringhalt (<em>it helps retain muscle memory and rebuild the tissue connections that are attacked and destroyed by the toxins</em>) I knew I would keep on working him to whatever capacity he was capable of. </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GJt7UDwRTiE/V2IMtmqcmGI/AAAAAAAANts/fJ7LPkQg-7Q/s1600-h/IMG_1383%25255B16%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1383" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_1383" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eArjHcDlSL0/V2IMuuu8sEI/AAAAAAAANt0/J2h4mlCxXZY/IMG_1383_thumb%25255B11%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="480" height="360"></a><em> <br>- One from the other night… A pony and a mountain view. -</em></p> <p>Turns out, that wasn’t much… </p> <p><em>…Story to be continued, as it’s still a long one…</em> </p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita</p>Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-28036487526180104962016-04-14T04:12:00.001-07:002016-04-14T04:12:12.523-07:00Our FIRST Clinic – An Introduction to Working Equitation<p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ujfAKX1DllY/Vw96-Cg4rrI/AAAAAAAANdw/BjXNrH7r_i8/s1600-h/12799174_593737914115708_19929991264.jpg"><img title="12799174_593737914115708_199299912647194149_n" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="12799174_593737914115708_199299912647194149_n" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xTziTaArhaM/Vw96_F5INyI/AAAAAAAANd0/ww4VUYSri_4/12799174_593737914115708_19929991264%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="524"></a> - <em>Concentrating very hard on circling through the triple barrels -</em></p> <p>This happened on the 28th of February, 2016… Wowee, that was too long ago! We had a fantastic time at the <em>very first</em> clinic either Copper or I have ever attended! </p> <p>It was a one day clinic - Introduction to Working Equitation. We started out by learning the history of W.E. and how it came about, and then we moved into the practicalities of how W.E. competitions work – the levels (<em>Introductory, Preliminary, Novice, Medium, Advanced, International: Debutante, ?, Masters</em>), the structure of the trials (<em>4 stages to the competition – Dressage, Ease of Handling*, Speed*, and Team Cattle Trial</em>) etc.**</p> <p>Next it was time to mount up for the “dressage-ing” portion. We started out as one big group, walking around the arena and halting, moving on, crossing over the diagonal to stretch and release the horses backs. </p> <p>Then we moved into 5 meter circles on the outside track, and loosened the horses up even more. The whole group started to look really rhythmical and unified turning our circles in synchronization – it was actually really cool! Then we started trotting, and we did 20 meter circles at each end of the arena. </p> <p>Copper started out super stiff over his back, so much so I was wondering if he was lame(<em>!!</em>) but by the end of this session he was so soft and light. It was so fantastic!! He felt great and I was really enjoying the workout. Then we stopped and did individual sessions for 10 minutes where we ran through an entry level W.E. dressage test. </p> <p>Unfortunately, by the time Copper and I had our turn, Copper had cooled down and was definitely “done” for the day. One of the side effects of always working in 20-45 minute sessions – he’s convinced his legs stop working after that length of time unless we are out on the trail!</p> <p>The meant we spent the better part of our session just loosening up again – we didn’t really get a good run through. I was a bit concerned about how he’d go in the afternoon session because of this, but as it turned out, he was fine. </p> <p>We broke for lunch, and ran out to pick up Subway, scarfing it down in the car as we rushed back to tack up….. Lol! I’m never prepared food-wise, but oh well. We made it back in time, ready to get stuck into the fun stuff – the W.E. obstacles! </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b84b4Znd6DY/Vw97AMhGYTI/AAAAAAAANd4/D9V8HRZIlD8/s1600-h/12801656_593738090782357_1710742294844914256_n%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="12801656_593738090782357_1710742294844914256_n" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="12801656_593738090782357_1710742294844914256_n" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w2aMwPJkEkw/Vw97AwfXyWI/AAAAAAAANd8/PdnDwDkpbSU/12801656_593738090782357_1710742294844914256_n_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="375"></a>- <em>Not melting down juuussttt yet… Wait for it!</em> -</p> <p>Copper took it all in his stride and I was really proud of him! He did so well with everything – even the bull and the garrocha pole. The only one he had a bit of a melt down with was the gate. We’d get two thirds of the way through the obstacle, but after I had maneuvered him up, unlatched it, turned-on-the-forehand through the opening, he just didn’t want to back up the final three steps so that I could close it again. Gah.</p> <p>Anyway, I ended up having to turn him in a circle up to, and away from the gate, come back along side it, pick up the rope (<em>yeah, it was two jump standards with a rope – not an actual swinging gate</em>) and back him up to latch it. You are not supposed to let go of the rope, so that’s the one obstacle we “failed” and couldn’t complete, but you know what? That’s really not bad at all!!</p> <p>We did the bell, the side pass pole, the L corridor, the stock pen, the double and triple barrels, the slalom, and the bridge, as well as the gorracha and bull. </p> <p>After we had all had a chance to play with the different obstacles there, and have some instruction on how to do them, we then got to do little individual run throughs where we strung some of the obstacles together. </p> <p>This time I learned my lesson though – I spent five minutes or so warming Copper up before we ran through it, and he did brilliantly! We did the bridge, the slalom, the bell, the L corridor, the triple barrels and finished with the bull. We got told we had a “score” of seven (<em>out of ten – “reasonably good”</em>) *fist pump* and this made me really grin…</p> <p>It was smooth, easy, Copper was having fun, and we were concentrating and oh – it was brilliant! I reallllly enjoyed it, and I could tell Copper did too – even if he was pooped by then (<em>hehe, I was too!</em>). </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-itGCvKFLwdg/Vw97Bq_YemI/AAAAAAAANeA/GkoL0aqvzPA/s1600-h/12802939_593738037449029_2046125034342873650_n%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="12802939_593738037449029_2046125034342873650_n" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="12802939_593738037449029_2046125034342873650_n" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1ar73tHIiqU/Vw97CujWGwI/AAAAAAAANeE/uBHhqVTNC4o/12802939_593738037449029_2046125034342873650_n_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="600"></a>- <em>Picking up the ring from the bull with the garrocha pole – it takes a lot of concentration! -</em></p> <p>By end of it all, we were both utterly out of energy and all the moves, but it was. so. good.</p> <p>Copper really calmed down with the work, I could feel his brain settle and really start to work. All of the horses were really listening at the end of the day, and I could feel that Copper could see the “point” to what we where doing. He really enjoyed the thinking aspect of tackling the obstacles – he loved the work I was giving him. </p> <p>I loved it too – the fact that this combines the best of dressage training (<em>lightness, harmony between horse and rider, feel and more!</em>) plus, fun stuff in the sandbox?? I’m all for it!</p> <p>I’ve toyed with the idea of eventing before, trying to combine dressage with other kinds of fun, but Copper can’t jump sticks tbh, and doesn’t really enjoy it either. He races because he’s uncertain and scared, and so I get uncertain and scared, and…. We’d never jump anything higher than beginner/Intro level. </p> <p>But W.E.? I can see us doing a <em>lot</em> more with this. We might even learn how to chase cows!! Haha! </p> <p> Plus, I personally believe that W.E. marries the work and principles of dressage far more deeply into the fun side than eventing does. You can’t do W.E. without the classical dressage training, it just wouldn’t work. The obstacles are specifically designed to test a horse’s balance, collection, lightness in hand, and ease of handling - which I’m not saying that eventing doesn’t do - just not in the same way, or to the same extent. :D</p> <p>Basically, I’m a fan and I can’t wait to do more WE.</p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita </p> <p>? <em>I missed that level’s name, but there is one. </em> (-__-)’</p> <p>*<em>The obstacle course is run twice – once, you and your mount are judged on how precisely and easily you do the course (which can be any variation of any of the 19 WE obstacles, taken in a certain order), and the second time is the speed trial – where you want to get through the course as swiftly as possible.</em></p> <p>** <em>For more information please see </em><a title="http://www.workingequitationaustralia.org.au/" href="http://www.workingequitationaustralia.org.au/">http://www.workingequitationaustralia.org.au/</a></p>Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-15717987108284613642016-02-19T03:21:00.000-08:002016-02-19T03:21:10.503-08:00After the best ride ever…<p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirlobTS8q_6Gm-qkgxypixpd9WVV04B6Qlkmw7lvq9cKXYLWhJhxBwZROQqG5k2OAyAn9i4cCjS81K8-pKidB3omnrJzzRkRqozF8CtvVK-8xOeEH1hzkvH9ueM-XOMqofs0sUUvgDKhI0/s1600-h/IMG_7504%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_7504" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_7504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUuNm5ZudRRDaRwpVSwgGPp78w1k_pCnFqEDeDHenPIOM3dH7Q0hM-rou32lW-bdLeDp4NqMAf7kHb-mZdjxa4jxo3U-GS5YtJfMMZz9pDQos8rVjhXufwsqHkKs1C_jNVMTTVJaQPb1b8/?imgmax=800" width="360" height="480"></a></p> <p align="center">- <em>We are no longer in the dark! - </em></p> <p>Yes, there have been many other rides after that amazing, epic, lesson of awesomeness. After all, it has been a month since that ride! </p> <p>But for the first week I didn’t ride at all because I was petrified I would stuff up everything Copper learned about giving to the aids, and that I’d ruin him forever! </p> <p>It’s the first time I’ve felt that, and it kept me off his back for five days…. Then I gathered up my courage and tried it by myself. Except I was sort of cheating, because my instructor was back giving lessons, and I got to share the arena with him and his pupil, so he did actually keep an eye on me. Though I think he probably thought I was a bit silly for not riding my horse for a week because I was scared to wreck him!</p> <p>He did say at the end of my ride that we had thoroughly grasped the concepts we’d been working on, and that he was pleased with the quality of Copper’s walk and trot work. He thought it was good! Which sent me into silent squeals of excitement - naturally….</p> <p>Since then, I don’t know if we’ve progressed much - it’s hard to tell as we are trying to find a new balance for the both of us. Where do I carry my hands? Too high - very messy, too low - Copper will dump a shoulder, or both, and lose his balance. </p> <p>Though once or twice when that’s happened, I’ve actually been able to gently lift my rein and pick his shoulder back up with it, which is just… (O_______o)!! </p> <p>I have never been able to do <em>that</em> before! </p> <p>The finding-a-new-balance thing also translating to odd moments in the trot. Yes, it is way better than it’s ever been - Copper is actually legitimately lifting and working over his back; which is a HUGE deal for an ex-trotter.</p> <p>But it’s also… odd. Sometimes he feels very heavy in the contact, and I have to get used to how bouncy his stride has become! Dare I say it – he might actually be learning how to get some suspension in his gait! </p> <p>The canter has also been better, but at the same time, it has been weaker because it is much harder to maintain the balance and the lift through the gait. </p> <p>It’s all been a very interesting learning curve – and funny when Copper discovered that a counter-shoulder in exercise preformed correctly was HARD.</p> <p>He just stopped at the wall and tossed his head like “Nope. No. No. No, Nope…” He actually tossed his head so much he bonked his nose and startled himself, the daft wee ninny. </p> <p>I had to get off and remind him that over was over, and he <em>had</em> to go sidewise if I asked him to. He gave in, and we did regain the sideways movement again, but yeesh. He is definitely not happy about doing those exercises for too long! </p> <p>I’ve sort of backed off – we used to do them all the way down the long side, but now I’m being nice and only asking for them about two-thirds of the way down the long side, so that he only preforms the movement for approximately one third of the arena. </p> <p>I’m doing this until I can talk to my instructor again as I really don’t want to get into a battle when I’m not sure of the best way to go about getting the results I need to. I don’t wear spurs, and perhaps I need to, but I’ll ask about that as well at my next lesson. </p> <p>I also have to be sure that I’m not asking for them incorrectly. Which I don’t think I am, as he will do them for the one-third length of the long side, but refuses for the full length of the long side. So there’s that, but I still want to check anyway. </p> <p>This is all very new, and I’m uncertain half the time if I’m getting it right, but I do know that help is now available, and slowly but surely, I believe we will get it together. </p> <p>At least we are no longer in the dark! </p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita</p>Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-54651391465455880892016-02-17T03:13:00.001-08:002016-02-17T03:14:01.041-08:00Start At The Beginning –The Lesson of Literal Enlightenment<p>One of the most exciting things about moving to our new paddocks, and this is what I’ve most been looking forwards to (<em>besides the giant indoor arena</em>) is the fact that there are great instructors that come in to teach at the facilities on a regular basis.</p> <p>A month ago, we had our first lesson with a classical dressage trainer, and <em>ohmygoodnessitwasthebesteverandnowIamsoexcitedit’scrazy!!</em></p> <p><em>*deep breath* </em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-StXtkFS674M/VsRVy6lLyGI/AAAAAAAANOA/-rMy1TPhSbI/s1600-h/IMG_7503%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_7503" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_7503" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd18q9aXUPfnvUuIBBGJxk1Utq1fFsrD1xPkw7kiW3pAvWYbTTg8ViCxk1-9i_CjGa4Lhh3qdcRPYjohHG_lYDr8zIZRDayla4aEwqiB3W9av4B1Frv0ofPQPVh9g1jgTwxnworCnYDQ_3/?imgmax=800" width="360" height="480"></a>- <em>Waiting around for our lesson to start, we were both suffering from extreme attacks of the needle… He’s spooky and I just feel plain old sick… But as it turns out, we needn’t have worried! -</em></p> <p>I should try not to get ahead of myself, but it really was such a good lesson…. As I remarked to MG (<em>Mighty Guy – Classical Dressage Instructor Extraordinaire!</em>) after the lesson, it was difference between groping around in the dark at a book, unable to read it because it is closed shut and you can’t see. You are struggling to take the next step towards that elusive feeling, and then someone just - *ping!* - turns on the light, opens the book right in front of your eyes, and explains exactly what it means, in great detail - right then and there to you. </p> <p>It. Was. The. Best. Ever.</p> <p>We learnt a ton, but we didn’t do much: Halt, flex, walk, counter shoulder in. That was it. Only walking for the whole hour, and I couldn’t keep the grin off my face! </p> <p>Right from the start, I was told quite simply that Copper doesn’t know any of the basic building blocks of carrying a rider – how to give to the aids. I didn’t know how to teach him that, and we’d never been taught any better. Copper showed how little he knew by marching around with his “race track” walk, which is super fast and not at all a clear, four beat pace, just a churning of the legs! </p> <p>He needed to slow down and learn to give… And we so were taught how to do that.</p> <p>What did we learn?</p> <ul> <li>Copper needs to learn to <em>give</em> to the aids, not <em>react </em>to the aids. He is not soft, and that’s why he is always so twitchy and fast. <li>He doesn’t know how to give to the rein aid/and my hand. He holds his tension in his jaw, poll, neck and shoulders. (<em>Haha, tell me something I don’t know! : P </em>) <li>We were taught four flexion exercises for releasing the ligaments under the jaw and neck – all are preformed at the halt, and involved lifting his head and asking him to soften, chew and swallow. The fourth one then asked him to soften over his topline and bring his nose down again without locking up. <li>These flexions where done in stages: first one was done at the halt on the ground, then repeated under saddle. Then we had to walk around and halt and ask again for the flexion any time he started to fall downwards towards the forehand, or stiffens his jaw. <li>The second and third are pretty much the same one – flexing to the left and right from the poll <li>The fourth is asking him to round over his topline all the way along his back and neck. <li>We built up through these flexions with a lot of walking around a 20x40 arena space, including changing the rein across the diagonal and asking him to stretch out over his topline. He <em>actually </em>strode out with a clear 1-2-3-4 beat and a nice stretch without falling into his chest! A baby walk-lengthening!! <li>We did the first exercise on both reins and when he was soft, did two and three, one on the left rein first, then the other on the right. <li>Then we moved to learning counter shoulder-in. Which was totally confusing for a directionally-challenged body such as myself. <ul> <li>The counter shoulder-in started with a walk down the long side, a six meter half-volte at the end, in the corner, which brings you back to face the long side you just walked down.<br><br>Then, facing the wall asking for the bend towards the direction you just came from –i.e., back towards the corner – you ask with the inside leg, (<em>which is the one your horse is bending around</em>) for the horse to move in the direction OPPOSITE to your bend; back down the long side.<br><br>You should feel the outside shoulder step into your rein and the inside hind crossing underneath as the horse steps over one foot at a time. <br><br>The slowing down, but lifting at the front, is crucial to this exercise. Where it can go wrong: the horse rushes through it and looses the true bend from nose to tail, or alternatively, the horse dives down and falls into the bend, leaving his tail trailing off every which way.<br><br>When done correctly, you can feel each footstep as the horse moves across, and the shoulders fill both reins.</li></ul></li></ul> <p>We were swinging along with the exercise, and then tried a counter-shoulder in along the imaginary fence down the middle of our half of the arena. Yeah, I couldn’t get it AT all… We got hopelessly muddled and I know it was my fault! Even with MG helpfully directing the rein on one side, I still couldn’t get it, so we gave up on that and just worked along the wall. </p> <p>All too soon the lesson was over, but I was giddy with excitement. I hadn’t stopped grinning like a fool the whole lesson, and I kept giggling, because riding Copper through out this lesson was like riding on a champagne bubble - and just as intoxicating! </p> <p>He. Felt. Brilliant.</p> <p>It was the very best I have ever gotten from him, or from any other horse I’ve <em>ever</em> sat on for that matter….</p> <p>Yes, it was a month ago, but I still remember that pure joy that came from finally understanding how to achieve what I have been chasing these last few years - if not, my entire riding career. </p> <p>I <em>can NOT wait to do it again…. </em></p> <p>Even if I did just walk for an hour!</p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita</p>Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-63582061273437097202016-01-15T01:32:00.001-08:002016-01-15T01:32:56.352-08:00Take Time<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0x-iXVt3cRYz3F5cHhtRPgstEthki053GN0AK9IOce5HrW5g0gHUjqzcsstc0OGNolqwiK3KpZP7vJmDHKlS_loOh9LZVKveA3FDUyTC0YgwlFJSuf3D-Iqj-kWdIiDJp3EgZ2-7MvbCT/s1600-h/VoH%25252BC_3_Ip%252527d_web%25255B5%25255D.png"><img title="Stylized Equestrian Photography, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Stylized Equestrian Photography, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6SX5bPe_sqU/Vpi8WolCizI/AAAAAAAAM98/Xl-I5MK_SIs/VoH%25252BC_3_Ip%252527d_web_thumb%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="540" height="360"></a><br><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l6w2Lu7RfM8/Vpi8Y4w8UDI/AAAAAAAAM-E/F5HQRMyEGW0/s1600-h/VoH%25252BC_9_Ip%252527d_web2%25255B5%25255D.png"><img title="Stylized Equestrian Photography, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Stylized Equestrian Photography, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7I7o4bA9psc/Vpi8aOsVyGI/AAAAAAAAM-M/PrV3ERkG4dg/VoH%25252BC_9_Ip%252527d_web2_thumb%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="540" height="360"></a> <p>Woosh! 2016 is here! That went by too fast! </p> <p>I’m going to do a short update because although quite a bit has been happening, it’s been all in tiny chunks; nothing huge or noteworthy. </p> <p>Since moving to his new home, these things have happened:</p> <ul> <li>All the riding: 3-4 days a week, trail rides, training, you name it</li> <li>And then none of the riding: Christmas + January holidays = three weeks off</li> <li>Those minor legs wounds from the <a href="http://aridinghabit.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/moving-shenanigans-settling-in.html">moving in party</a>: taking longer to heal than first expected, but almost there now</li> <li>Developing a trait of stocking up when turned out 24/7 (!! <em>Who does this??</em>) because of too much time standing at the fence watching other horses eat. Yup. Copper thinks he’s Forever. Alone. </li> <li>Me freaking out over puffy legs even though he’s not lame and the swelling is not hot, but still trying different things like: rest, no rest, exercise on hard ground, exercise in the arena, poulticing, not poulticing, etc..</li> <li>Discovering that rest is bad, straight lines and gentling exercise, thumbs up!!</li> <li>Feeding horse almost everyday because said horse is spending too much time watching everyone else eat… I just …..(-_-)</li> <li>But on that note, enjoying the less fat pony! He’s really at a better weight right now, and he looks GOOD.</li> <li>Oh yeah, and this happened: a special photoshoot together. Enjoy!</li></ul> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Cc8i2yKZTzs/Vpi8b80UsYI/AAAAAAAAM-U/CZ_eV3leB8I/s1600-h/VoH%25252BC_5a_Ip%252527d_web%25255B5%25255D.png"><img title="Stylized Equestrian Photography, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Stylized Equestrian Photography, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hK-1-qqPvr4/Vpi8d8F4vKI/AAAAAAAAM-c/IvtO3p3wZGE/VoH%25252BC_5a_Ip%252527d_web_thumb%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="540" height="825"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYd_gNyPL-nMBgepxR2ket6QM9SjsISXum9P9t55NHilMd6E2BvLmOi7ngzkGWjLUBcQnONjDYy2DI3VTx6rfS_4GlAmKiIQWr6T61MpqhEJQRnlF9mmQ2oTl_XA4aMPNbsJqIlPUrmiO/s1600-h/VoH%25252BC_7_Ip%252527d_web%25255B4%25255D.png"><img title="Stylized Equestrian Photography, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Stylized Equestrian Photography, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dR4gePeVAhs/Vpi8iMIN0xI/AAAAAAAAM-s/fn_vqwXJOUg/VoH%25252BC_7_Ip%252527d_web_thumb%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="540" height="360"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjq7Dg7OnbCmekj_e1zFZriSsWcRrpXSGxMjiX9n-nkPE35CTA6oymhVhTpAHJ0-MCZSW92ZvkH5WDZSLjZjZMkluWY5Ts357Y5b3oIbwa7LMyQex9Yy2WTetmI4yJ1mNLKTNdICGbHOg_/s1600-h/VoH%25252BC_8_Ip%252527d_web%25255B5%25255D.png"><img title="Stylized Equestrian Photography, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Stylized Equestrian Photography, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZfbJKRcUilY/Vpi8mAeECQI/AAAAAAAAM-8/TZa-4x7GRzM/VoH%25252BC_8_Ip%252527d_web_thumb%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="540" height="785"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemd854WOlRHK7KwOLJ0JZLfieHG8rwEf6G358548eeq5UMSnzZx5-N2oQUgZqCbBm4EX9chHPGkGDmWsT4z7RRxpBhAhV-tDtp-HSHob9tfoN9EuMCSegmxoODQuQz6hl5xgehahdbAqK/s1600-h/VoH%25252BC_11_Ip%252527d_web%25255B4%25255D.png"><img title="Stylized Equestrian Photography, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Stylized Equestrian Photography, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7MEKFDmDjnbSQ5d4BN_HCm6Bos9WECQTz4Bwl1IXTEOYunROYikxUjdbLBiK2uY61Crv_FHJfgT4qKCBscua0JkUuyki1BRhG5qtuAMuj9QNLebRQ0ywGHL6IFV4qbJhPg3xozXc4jupI/?imgmax=800" width="540" height="360"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPMJ2Uj-3X4c8yqYGMSeWMS7V6GfWzFzO5p1XAbfkV_ZdDaIs-fnTYBNAec0S-8kkkydLcDW5eH32q948mzAcypiiCc2cemQsmVvMHGLLDAFGD0mGkGN_VNtwZUuyYHa-PR3-5-nHalbp/s1600-h/VoH%25252BC_12a%25255B4%25255D.png"><img title="Copper and Bonita, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Copper and Bonita, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0pPR-r2RMx0/Vpi8teLohvI/AAAAAAAAM_c/sJ88F6sMfgE/VoH%25252BC_12a_thumb%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="540" height="360"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fA2LJAPg8mQ/Vpi8wCZ-rmI/AAAAAAAAM_k/YAupOq5auHg/s1600-h/VoH%25252BC_13%25255B4%25255D.png"><img title="Copper and Bonita, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Copper and Bonita, January 2016 - A Riding Habit" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AHJOPms4G4Y/Vpi8xpVFrbI/AAAAAAAAM_s/chJUPJEa5uU/VoH%25252BC_13_thumb%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="540" height="360"></a></p> <p>See ya,</p> <p>bonita</p>Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-43480965960018649142015-12-09T20:15:00.001-08:002016-02-17T03:25:56.471-08:00Moving Shenanigans & Settling InShenanigans > (greater than) Settling into new paddocks. That about says it all doesn’t it? <br />
Sunday morning, out in the paddock… <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjVilM_a2T_BxC-rOS7wW5KzSyql8dIg95HM-7N073afEGR7WFu2Lh_czxRCtkFduyGbs043ntAxjms1Rbf2k5g6XhlT2dKQBIgo_kpfC7StO4GIvgfXrAr51obpgGJ5vh2ya9YWnb3we/s1600-h/IMG_64814.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6481" border="0" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0cr1IZnL95E/Vmj8Dlc21jI/AAAAAAAAMnk/nRyclPHHLAs/IMG_6481_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" height="338" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6481" width="450" /></a></div>
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- “<em>Rawh! My treatz!”</em> says Copper to Robbie, his best bud -</div>
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<a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WffQMrtxNkQ/Vmj8EYctuQI/AAAAAAAAMno/stqEpRlQuGw/s1600-h/IMG_64804.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6480" border="0" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WsNdkk8FvrE/Vmj8FDLlD0I/AAAAAAAAMnw/jBum6ZqPcDs/IMG_6480_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" height="338" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6480" width="450" /></a></div>
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- “<em>Oh-tay, we iz fwends agin… Wut you mean – Buh Beye? I dunna get it…” -</em></div>
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<em><br /></em></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ8xghrzVL50AOGL26y4wSf1SP3hhL8MfvX5pLepOiB9vBsi2dJGGnhaHJaD15JqzvJ7Wf482KHwqTKMyZeuye5d00RP3pbxo0Uv_t5aJztbuIMTYkDqsnDZHpUyhiJkPPWcye_CKuULpo/s1600-h/IMG_64824.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6482" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifNwL_qXUUAXJo6Z1AmVuT6GRDTQd65U-yKjXb0tYqr3gaXKlhZ-iZOP_CbPL7qsQAue8A_2kvCvwjGC-OakkcNhs7oPcZuT6cHg25UwS3SOyDroSidRLIDKbYccZkBrsHubxAIZCpeOph/?imgmax=800" height="338" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6482" width="450" /></a><br />
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- “<em>Oh, dis wut you mean… One of dese homen-beanz horse gobbling fingz.” -</em></div>
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<em><br /></em></div>
<img alt="IMG_6483" border="0" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SQ3dckK-9sQ/Vmj8G1MVnWI/AAAAAAAAMoI/srzgaRcR4cM/IMG_6483_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" height="338" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6483" width="450" /> <br />
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- “<em>Srsly – agin with de clicky fing? No… Won’t smile… Wanna eat.” -</em></div>
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<em><br /></em></div>
<a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DA8k4mSq_-k/Vmj8Hmstm5I/AAAAAAAAMoQ/FZEfMsfbYVo/s1600-h/IMG_64844.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6484" border="0" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-d_Y_RVoka5g/Vmj8IAZF2_I/AAAAAAAAMoc/a_qNPfzyEqQ/IMG_6484_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" height="338" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6484" width="450" /></a><br />
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- “<em>Weh you goin’? …Mom! …Mom!! DON”T LEAVE ME!!! I DON’T NOE ANYONEZ HERH!!” -</em></div>
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<em><br /></em></div>
<a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dLTzolEaK-E/Vmj8IwXMH-I/AAAAAAAAMog/NGDRpSIsnDw/s1600-h/IMG_64854.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6485" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEcMmYPcXFY3U223qRJfFachyphenhyphenNLAupTKQEIBCHFD-DCcqozTMkTXCL1DBXPPjQbUYDCB9iFfh9eJ5_3OIcpUXyMbRpgOuFwBe3eatt1vcNCUCrD6L6Q8Hz_GU7jCAxiJubZYa1VT9awYzK/?imgmax=800" height="600" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6485" width="450" /></a><br />
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- “<em>Told ya not to go…. *insert smirk*” </em>-</div>
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<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVt-RmU8PtaOnBtdyi2_w44UlInv-hJI6sJLuaapblQy56UHU-xxXSlC5V9FhX2BVWN4Xf_C-aznVPmJc10bCP4cIFpZ_NnM3t0i90J_oKiCbxLe30UbzwEpJSJKnzFA1wXBEynqrrKgKY/s1600-h/IMG_64864.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6486" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkm9ekIeYhrxJhhf8zrAhVr_WmjBX51c9BEBo3yu3HDfHTaqlJrmgOjoUaKBT74GXkl7e0pzEX4Lr5XEYL8pOzc7caqPi2LsWzo-_JbEGIdoSmrVrG8Wm3sO7ciCgvfZ1y-XBqwyZmg2-a/?imgmax=800" height="338" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6486" width="450" /></a><br />
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- “<em>I didn’t noes fencez bit! Honest!” -</em></div>
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<em><br /></em></div>
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<span style="color: #990019;"></span><img alt="IMG_6487" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXBI5-2KMSnkpVRQ58m0y3gCdHL7AauT2o-wj6qKsFMpUjHMKbLmbw71hjIBmb8ByeJJNfADkWFjCK__1nLYfBhcVq6-3fWuq52AKAHZODzVY6BRwNBCSRHNrbEJYi7CHy9WQP2xPqZbl5/?imgmax=800" height="309" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6487" width="450" /></div>
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- “<em>Hai… I iz glad you here…” -</em></div>
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<em><br /></em></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-cUHLsJXgBFfJ97vblNiZEpf-DCBq7Slz85RF6A2DxxluKDS12NKFjWWaDz58yGykdfZftTmpqMQ4T1VHAjXnZiDputNMnfQP4eW6yGENJDbkeQ-Keyvor5peLvvIw62aeFCqBw9vMrO/s1600-h/IMG_64884.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6488" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbIOKMXSF9rX-lkOrU3Uomt80omeHKloSnqbypunqiuc_00O3T9x73zH7dRqzCHVdBPVuQw8mvQME6RMsas1c8GybXSQ7t_Fzg-059jhAwr1iNO9JDBUovAqA8Lic4eixFkW6JUxXV5mjE/?imgmax=800" height="338" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6488" width="450" /></a><br />
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- *omnomnomnom* -</div>
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So long story - everything was going really smoothly with our move... Turns out, it didn’t quite stay that way!! :O<br />
<br />
We started by picking up the hire float, then fetching Copper in from the paddock.<br />
<br />
I prepped him for travel with float boots and plaiting up his tail. Copper walked up the ramp, stopped – had a sniff and a look, then marched right on. <br />
<br />
I was so relieved… I didn’t expect any trouble, I know he’s been well trained with floats being an ex-racer off the track, but counting it up – Copper hasn’t been out on a float in over four years! So I was kind of wondering if he’d be easy or a bit tricky. <br />
<br />
We got over to our new home in 45 minutes or so – and he travelled really well, no clopping or clattering around – just eating from his hay net. I should take him out more often… :P<br />
<br />
He unloaded fine, we walked around and explored; said hello to new pony faces over the fences, and then walked every inch of his new boundary fences. *phew!* That took a while – and less than half way through he was all: “Can we stahp? Bored now… I want munchies!” <br />
<br />
Copper was looking fairly settled - still a bit stressed and anxious, but he wasn't pacing or anything. He was eating, drinking, pooping and peeing - very normal horse behaviour, so I went home to fetch a hose and come back to fill up his trough. <br />
<br />
<strong></strong> <br />
In the hour or so that I was gone the dingbat ran through a border fence between paddocks and ended up in the neighbour's paddock!!<br />
<br />
<strong></strong> <br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/messages/743595957#"> </a> <br />
He was okay, but had to be rescued by the neighbour. He ended up with some abrasions on the front of his hind cannons - right on the front/under his hocks. <br />
<br />
There was also a minor cut that was a bit deep, it had a skin flap that I gently pulled back and flushed with a ton of betadine! <br />
<br />
I bandaged the cut, I was hoping that would hold the skin flap on so it would reattach, but the bandage slipped down in the night and the skin flap was half attached, and half dried up when I came back out the next morning. <br />
<br />
I fully expected to see swelling and lameness, but he was actually pretty good. So I guess it’s all’s well that ends well – for that kind of incident it could have been a lot worse. <br />
<br />
If it teaches him to respect the fence though, I guess that's good, because seriously horse!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicksFmz_KSg39qV0o1e55eIHyHiZwSRw-pmtWwiqEexXyR0E60kWNYhKmxoU4KF3nKTSJWvVborU9KyvB7CmIzMBZ8oTqudiUR6bhO9kGdVu9Z5zioy8L3WIIln7Qbe1HWI4LZGfwtBawC/s1600-h/Loser2.gif"><img alt="Loser" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cMlBIEkx2TEjmww-5hTkLIfpvC6VkICqq1FfxIGWLI-9Gn8sfbyIiOBtJTWYs89qyeOusnV3pwi3GGtZI4r9il7Y02X6vUSmnuGx9KjvPEY9B94BGvQRF9NXYvK28r24y2Hnrh2V756c/?imgmax=800" height="180" style="display: inline;" title="Loser" width="240" /></a><br />
<br />
Such a silly boy... <br />
<br />
But he is all "Don't leave me!!" when I go down, so I do feel sorry for him. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0BrNT3Ht6dQZENbqyE3-2CJHsY8litr1lkzR8igKvy8nfMSMGXmQ-MzTPgPtk9YiaJ7v3BOunDVtid2noc_BJI9bLHxPjnML9kXjuptlxIxOpJdfmpwtLGKwIyROOW3MN-yBqhglW6DR/s1600-h/DontLeave2.gif"><img alt="Don't Leave" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6O69ypPAAaU/Vmj8S9GHUlI/AAAAAAAAMpw/IjtGEHAnvrg/DontLeave_thumb.gif?imgmax=800" height="179" style="display: inline;" title="Don't Leave" width="240" /></a> <br />
<br />
He's uncharacteristically clingy... <br />
<br />
He is fretting a bit, and won't go into the actual paddock to eat. He's just staying the lane way down the front which isn’t very large, and doesn’t have much grass at all. <br />
<br />
I mean, it's not like he couldn't stand to lose a few (<em>Let’s be real here - a lot!</em>) kilos, but I don't want him to colic. <br />
<br />
I have been visiting him twice a day – once in the morning, and once in the evening for the last three days; Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. <br />
<br />
On Wednesday morning, this happened:<br />
<br />
<strong></strong> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AaP1u4iJH_U/Vmj8Trdd-7I/AAAAAAAAMp0/9uLlpn2jJGk/s1600-h/IMG_64894.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6489" border="0" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EzzH4w9oic4/Vmj8UQKjuDI/AAAAAAAAMqA/D1yue86m0gE/IMG_6489_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" height="338" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6489" width="450" /></a><br />
<div>
<span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span> Yep, first ride in new place… <br />
<br />
There’s not much to say about it, except he was a lot more rideable than what I’d been expecting! <br />
<br />
With a little lunge (<em>when he was trotting he exhaled the giant breath he’d been holding… Lol</em>) and some lateral work at a walk, he was listening and felt quite relaxed when I hopped off 20 minutes later! <br />
<br />
I was stoked – I feel like the work we’ve be doing towards learning how to relax even in tense moments has really been sinking in! He had all his marbles, but he was nice and forward – I was thinking that this would be a great competition frame of mind. ;)<br />
<br />
It’s all groovy baby. <br />
<br />
See ya,<br />
bonita<br />
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Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-79527328949881838372015-12-05T15:29:00.001-08:002015-12-05T15:36:40.723-08:00Wave Goodbye; We Are Off To A New Paddock<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5SiFrC2DJZ2h8qu3cGXzvGooQlO8BU3D-jeEJIqV7cZyug_X9tj3F7y5J7lPN49Hnw4cY1KNtDPpJdIvPuuocAtkT9RjRWNkxsDvD76LvsP4lxe_h5edUVbiBYTs3h45lbV9uQdFf-2M/s1600-h/IMG_6363%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="New adventures, here we come! | A Riding Habit" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="New adventures, here we come! | A Riding Habit" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Vij9ew3bmPI/VmNzMs2IC8I/AAAAAAAAMkE/urC2c2JujJI/IMG_6363_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="542" height="406"></a></p> <p>It is exciting and sort of scary, but definitely exciting – Copper and I are moving to a new equestrian complex this weekend.</p> <p>We’ve been agisting at the same paddocks for over a decade, and it’s been great. The people and horses at our paddocks are fabulous – we all get along and have never really had any of that barn drama. </p> <p>I’m going to miss them all.</p> <p>Copper’s been running with his herd for years, and I know he’s going to miss his friends too.</p> <p>I’m also going to miss the familiar, beautiful stretches of golden fields. But I have got to say – I’m so excited to move too. </p> <p>And the whole reason we are moving? </p> <p>We’re upgrading to a private, two horse paddock with all the facilities you could want for riding!</p> <p>I’ve been waiting for this for years, and I’m so thrilled!</p> <p>Still, saying goodbye to all this… </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigy9bh354MrfOOeynWgl9RHCp4-DMdpwwS-74L4jsaavOW2djkYb2Gn4gPxv87mCuDUKACTzolpAq30W3cRSAY-RgKafNNbF4kib21HwNGdTkmD2Xhyphenhyphen5I-GvWc6j8-z_ZDD8oHq9YN1lbW/s1600-h/IMG_6359%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDcITVA2Oj3si7aljQ7iI6eE7uU1f05MNJPmE7WYzLmHNpO9FgblbXGfnVWbYyzZmQ2j9dtbyaQ2UJNsHrBtnyuw0Xk2qmwyvvXZ8KkYdBGLoQaPkiGJoGgpAWUviBYwcxcBD4Vwqah1F/?imgmax=800" width="542" height="407"></a> <img title="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zxehxvuytGE/VmNzOWPcgwI/AAAAAAAAMkc/XLFln_kQICU/IMG_6348_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="265" height="265"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevLuWptUCNu4k7nRNzgX3mnb6XIUebJ_EAfqReBPqFDSJMdebz9URQmUv5ArDKEjXjMS7Z2T9xZfb_XHuIo4LWx_Hg6-rN52yCsud9fIo70EvU7NYhAfmlHa1FKwMlbSByUU2xVfxapig/s1600-h/IMG_6350%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikFa2ipPeV30XWnKuqw9LX_v8vnUU1V0E5YyKdGrOh_hrrCDMcxa63LwPnBxxsIcZt3IlzzvjW-Q041ADDqhy0HjNHLArL8G1IM6JFkr7kRdDzv-tfzCLi1WyY0pbrI86rB00nW-Z9ORY_/?imgmax=800" width="265" height="265"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl13SByONCwnWr8XyrUjHTyVTd_Uwzhk-2hRw9Kpl5xeBKjFUAKl7pQAKvZimJfgCQQvOtdjAYxqdPkITKepniNfmkaDSn_t89Phjs2qw-LRwQ9kvcMhlBgezW31DuqRDVqAi-5YjEvQ66/s1600-h/IMG_6352%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DaTYIsKgyHI/VmNzQ0jJJHI/AAAAAAAAMk8/M1BS1c1yCqk/IMG_6352_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="542" height="406"></a> <img title="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W_UZMiC_SJs/VmNzRfG47UI/AAAAAAAAMlI/-6iET_OxzeU/IMG_6351_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="542" height="406"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQJIctjrUvLRuOpV27nm6qWkDDkTJgofX4ibOg1M-AMvcqfW8AuGcGHv3l0AFhuRLxy5bKKvlN8YHGqV36Qgoia-LFJItWKQYzi6hoP-KGilidva8jg3US4K-DsEOfwnZxquCrS6nWJsDl/s1600-h/IMG_6357%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YZgdQwv4grU/VmNzSxsENPI/AAAAAAAAMlU/Ty55FIHJVOw/IMG_6357_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="542" height="406"></a> </p> <p>It’s going to be sad.<br><br><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7vXEXj6w5SQ/VmNzT6Yp9gI/AAAAAAAAMlg/oyBlIFv1vOM/s1600-h/IMG_6356%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0BGyT5Q1Y1WABLBq3Up1ZPvb8pQcvnAuN68xbmEav-xN52pkv8OkiXSkqXQGVHEn2ZfK_AfuLHMcy_CI8rWznzYkhGT72nX9ttyQvWudcVQujTZxSWU2KvDDmv8UEYdCYfYT_dFBiuzPT/?imgmax=800" width="542" height="406"></a></p> <p>In many ways…</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AGr_v4YwbPI/VmN0dsO5DRI/AAAAAAAAMm0/83oYsdaYf8k/s1600-h/IMG_6365%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Hard Hat Are"n"a | A Riding Habit" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Hard Hat Are"n"a | A Riding Habit" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZAdakrOs8sUFW1x12Yn-em_QkOlcTPfQqjowrERqP22A3wtJY-n_AV6PpSfDUiyu-tR9ZJk2PsVaJav6UkRnQcGubLt00monZFuzaZcKlQ1EWl0rz46ADyrvuL1StltbPQZukxi-s-C33/?imgmax=800" width="542" height="406"></a> </p> <p>… It’s the end of an era.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EusMCk3m3WTb4hUqeIq-oWIqkQRIJeSCQMzZhjDtC8JO0gJRnmGgL-0djiqkEze1IevaGB02KaamQgw_ISN1sEVdZsMxddU1IM-855mBevgDtO7HAgmokm3nwtZiuQSYdPzSlEgH6qxX/s1600-h/IMG_6024%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Arena selfies! | A Riding Habit" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Arena selfies! | A Riding Habit" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qG-4dlQohCw/VmNzXfc5AkI/AAAAAAAAMmI/YWx_D-VXWhA/IMG_6024_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="265" height="353"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIFDYjm78SvP8QyZ2Gw0jrbNujzJeNatckR4W6cjQJyxT4LxXDIy1-q_vO4N7RD1O4IBrp82YUAqSjc_oRxwMyFJK_99H7_9d0E6cCHLCEVJ6ZdTOx_D6j-rXnxzWiqPF7fJ5YENW5zqv/s1600-h/IMG_6364%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Veiw from our arena | A Riding Habit" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Veiw from our arena | A Riding Habit" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIYNEyJuFopudgjW6JcXMTCWKjzLCYmWF1hD4R6M8w_K4B5dg_XzlQvawqd0WqQSeAhAUi61dQhVfsrHMYex_kpRrZ0OD2P6bYEt3A_oBEvVIMBwtI4fDxlwlKsaGfRoo3kx3RxvEmHEE/?imgmax=800" width="265" height="353"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBDess0psja1l9n2pMcqlDu7czhL7QTZw8Y8Y9pNaDbahAlpv_D40JplOketlt0pFatomJ9o8B2eKyA51NU7uLiaiilbEgZ56KNahO-Lqx7gyQf6brGtsp8d5wu9VXwS2xLYeigWZF7LHl/s1600-h/IMG_6361%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Goodbye to our old home... | A Riding Habit" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje763SlmpAHTBKluVIC8r2T6LTDP_5TqVESLHfK6TseD_XPmeAco1_Zzn1whfslDl1CeY_VGV7orojh3m6xPcdjtaC6MrqS-EFlq1P78-eX2wlSxtOoM3rDJ70GoZdNxmkj7Tu48KWvuWX/?imgmax=800" width="542" height="406"></a> </p> <p>See ya,</p> <p>bonita</p> Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-11084578376289950322015-11-23T19:36:00.001-08:002016-03-05T02:07:07.046-08:00Pics or it didn’t happen…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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So this happened at 6 o’clock Monday morning – a ride! <br />
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He’s had two weeks off due to busyness and sickness on my part - lame, I know, but at least we are back in the saddle!<br />
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Predictably Copper was stiff, a little more unco than usual, and not a very soft ride for our first schooling session back but we still had a decent ride so I was super happy about that. <br />
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I dropped my stirrups for 10 minutes and did some no stirrup walk/trotting while circling and it really was some of the best circle work, in terms of consistent bend, that we’ve had in a while - despite the two weeks off. <br />
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I know why – it’s because my hips tend to contort on a circle, and my shoulders tip and twist and basically I make it super hard for Copper to actually work a circle correctly. I don’t know why this is – my theory is that it’s because I’ve spent so many years fighting my saddle for a correct position that the muscle memory is overtaking me and making me twist up like a pretzel. <br />
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But when I drop my stirrups something magical happens and my hips suddenly start sitting where they are supposed to be! My leg drops long to balance me, so my shoulders stay back, and basically everything suddenly works!! :O <br />
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<em><strong>Solution:</strong> lots of no stirrup work – particularly when riding circles. At least once, each rein, every ride. The plan is to retrain my muscles without stirrups and hopefully then be able to translate that back into the stirrups later on.</em> <br />
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After that, I picked up my stirrups again and we had a nice as-good-as-can-be-expected trot and a decent canter on each lead.<br />
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I’m pleased that the spring sillies have gone away, and that I finally have a horse with a brain again. For about a month or so there it was like riding a four year old!<br />
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I would lunge him, and he’d be physically tired when I got up to ride him, but his brain would still be skittery, and he’d be “up” – ready to spook at the slightest thing. <br />
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It was the weirdest feeling – usually when a horse is physically tired, and Copper is like this – their brains usually calm right down. But with the spring sillies, I’d be pushing as hard as I can to keep him going, yet feeling like his brain was spinning it’s hamster wheel as fast as it could… <br />
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A very strange feeling! <br />
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<a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qNwQw4FfcW4/VlPbNeaAFsI/AAAAAAAAMeY/pcYHlDpr4sw/s1600-h/IMG_6003%25255B3%25255D.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="IMG_6003" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgM85Ij4En9KRJOIUE909HZRMU0KTIpCZgUpBtL1JQc5qufD9k9RYf6-QK7ej7Kk1gHA-Yf0OmWQZTZkdF4N_QVHRcQwl87prtb2-7GqqjqopMHLSaj0AzX2_wdM-_uAAYYMKQ_Z85R0O6/?imgmax=800" height="300" style="border: 0px; display: inline;" title="IMG_6003" width="400" /></a></div>
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So I’m very glad my pony-boy is feeling much more like himself again. Even if it was good practise working with a tense horse, I much prefer my steady Standie instead!<br />
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See ya, <br />
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bonitaLavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-7046273757425973032015-11-02T21:28:00.001-08:002015-11-03T23:03:26.177-08:00One step at a time<p>Slowly we are pulling it together. </p> <p>Our downwards transitions still suck. I need to half-halt more and keep my elbows soft and tucked by my side. </p> <p>My legs are getting better, but I’m still struggling with keeping them underneath my hips. </p> <p>While my core is stronger than it was, it needs to be even more stronger still. That helps me balance, and when I keep my abs switched on, so does Copper! </p> <p>All that said – I’m so obsessed with this recent schooling video. </p> <p><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DlnwYDhSm5U" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>Our canter transition is awful because this is halfway through our ride, and he was tired from cantering twice before so he’s slopping along here, but it was still quiet which is a good improvement. </p> <p>He’s bobbing his head about like a duck looking for food, but the connection is getting there and he’s definitely starting to look more uphill than before, and rounded too! </p> <p>I love it!</p> <p>I know I’m not just seeing his improvement, I am also feeling it too. For the first time ever, the other day he actually stepped under himself properly for a downwards transition from trot to walk. I felt him <em>reach </em>underneath himself with his right hind, and step into the walk from behind. He’s never done that before, and it felt sooo awesome! </p> <p>Just one step, but one step forwards, and we will get there one step at a time. </p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita</p> Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-9569828158958496022015-08-16T17:27:00.001-07:002015-08-16T17:27:57.943-07:00Cute Pony is Cute & New Saddle<p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O9FLnYLVPRE/VdEqeRa3wVI/AAAAAAAAL2E/UIsz08olI5U/s1600-h/IMG_234014.jpg"><img title="IMG_2340[1]" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_2340[1]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2slIGIYxJzr2yRg61UJ3pmDDRDAp8OkeayFE-u15-jGufqsLKYyt_ssRagBLXPyK7mr8O1gvPIVjI-kKInl-0hgS7zfomdbYS4ITJYapRwXVxLiwgtMZ5XRLHqJLBNUZbY-dHorOa0iIX/?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a> – <em>Hmm… Whas dis? Licorich? -</em></p> <p>This thing happened since my last update: we found a like-new second hand dressage saddle that works for us both. It’s the Wintec 500 dressage saddle with CAIR panels, and an adjustable gullet system that I wanted, around about a year old. And it was in stellar condition, AND it came fully mounted! </p> <p>I don’t know what pony fairy was floating around to dub me with such luck, but we basically got our new saddle three weeks after that post – mid July, and we have been riding in it ever since. </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jxV2macyNEQ/VdEqf8RqlYI/AAAAAAAAL2U/-PZunSMOHH0/s1600-h/IMG_427715.jpg"><img title="IMG_4277[1]" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_4277[1]" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jUVmWTBpV6k/VdEqgYzs78I/AAAAAAAAL2c/q9WLljSM5eI/IMG_42771_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a>- <em>Why iz YOU here so earlies? -</em></p> <p align="left">It’s certainly been different riding in a dressage saddle. In all my years riding, I have never actually had a dressage saddle, or ridden in one for any length of time.</p> <p align="left">As you can imagine, this makes all the dressage training I’ve been doing challenging in its own way, and riding in the new saddle has certainly opened my eyes to some new steps to take.</p> <p align="left">Firstly, Copper <em>lurves it. </em>As much as a horse CAN love a saddle! The straight cut of the saddle flaps vs. the forward cut of the All Purpose has made a <em>huge</em> difference in the relaxation and forwardness of his shoulder movement. </p> <p align="left">I had only walked about ten strides in the saddle when we were first checking the fit before I announced to the saddle fitter that he loved it! His shoulders where moving so freely, and there was a lightness to his neck/whithers/shoulders that wasn’t there before.</p> <p align="left">It was like he was gliding over the ground!</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ypc3BATCcqtyyadDOv0t2Qz-fGCKFUeQnvfVYLkChXCwPHF_krhXX54et82eXIIn086ma3HomEZQsrL3FXrvpjQJFg7BcaXbPHsSTy3HLVzbT2D_5r3NyQJAbl47YF9AOoQtl92Khd3g/s1600-h/IMG_234914.jpg"><img title="IMG_2349[1]" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_2349[1]" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8ya2MBj4bNU/VdEqhnN2G4I/AAAAAAAAL2s/w94hVycL7fo/IMG_23491_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a>- <em>No… I donwanna pose for a “foto” – wut evah dat iz. Put dat silly clickin fing away!</em> *pout* -</p> <p>As far as it affects me – it’s all about finding a new centre. Because the dressage saddle actually facilitates correct rider balance and shoulder/hip/heel alignment, for the first time I’m really able to focus on balance, using my lower leg effectively and working much more efficiently with my seat. </p> <p>It’s so exciting! It’s so painful!! My abs, calves and ankles start burning after about fifteen minutes and by the end of our half hour session, my muscles are so fatigued I am ready to be out of the saddle! Ha!</p> <p>Dressage riding = better than sit ups.</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MWVJeueOWpw/VdEqico0YPI/AAAAAAAAL20/Ea1o8NU3DKM/s1600-h/IMG_428614.jpg"><img title="IMG_4286[1]" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_4286[1]" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NZtXFN9qvmc/VdEqjDXkrXI/AAAAAAAAL28/M4Y9feSMHo0/IMG_42861_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a> - <em>Hai up der!</em> -</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>I have to work a million times harder to keep myself in a correct position, but in between my bobbling about on his back, we are having some brilliant-I-can-taste-the-future-moments. </p> <p>In bullet points not to bore you:</p> <ul> <li>I got the purest trot I’ve ever had from him at least twice now; a clean, golden, perfect, 1-2 beat with soft, through back. It was magical, and I wanted it to last forever! <li>A walk that was a smooth and as rideable as butter. I can’t even – how do you describe that? <li>Even his weakest gait – the canter, is much more forward, but at the same time, less zoom-y and unbalanced. Very good. <li>When I fold at the base of my ribs, suck in my abs and switch them on, Copper relaxes his back and will connect stronger from back to front. <li>When I turn my toes in, and allow my lower calf to hug his sides, I’m finding that my lower leg is stabilizing (<em>wonders of wonders!</em>). <li>My position at the trot: I’m focusing really hard keeping my knees and lower legs ON his sides, and not letting them swing forwards and off. To help with this, I keep my abs on, the base of my rib cage soft and really try to keep my back soft, but straight. <li>Because of my ‘duck butt’, what feels like a rounded back, is actually a straight, soft back and Copper really responds to that softness in my back. </li></ul> <p>All this means that I feel like we are on a new track to improving. I’m able to use my seat more effectively in a rising trot now that my lower leg is stabilized, and because of that, his gait is becoming cleaner and more controlled. </p> <p>This is very exciting for me and definitely a huge break through! I can’t wait to see how we get on from here. :D</p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita</p> Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-26292260656383863722015-06-24T01:32:00.001-07:002015-06-24T01:32:41.781-07:00Saddle Fit Woes aka In Which I Need a New Saddle… D’Oh!<p>So I had the saddle fitter out to Copper the other day (<em>a week and a half ago now? Gee, that went fast!</em>) because of the way his saddle has been slipping around on me. </p> <p>Basically the long and short of it is: the Wintec 500 All Purpose saddle fits <em>him</em> just fine. It does not fit me. </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbCtjItpThg4pDtZY0qfRUlf2rrY1lAmEEPiDHLJz3Bj8ERsRk5n0BOXOiFOoWTzlFDfN2347OUzu1ErriH9_8u8YO4vs_LMOn1Ifzt_vwTdOcbaPsB5z5DP_5VKpdVstgiP3u0j8NwRr/s1600-h/IMG_2227%25255B1%25255D%25255B12%25255D.jpg"><img title="The Random Hat sits - A Riding Habit" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="The Random Hat sits - A Riding Habit" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bwaH8GztFcA/VYprIr35_cI/AAAAAAAALUk/SpGYcweVsys/IMG_2227%25255B1%25255D_thumb%25255B10%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a> - <em>The Random Hat sits on a fence</em> -</p> <p>I need to shorten my stirrups two holes from where they are at the moment so that my weight is keeping the saddle anchored in place as I rise to the trot/circle/go faster – as in canter –/etc. </p> <p>Ouch. Yeah, I know I generally tend to ride long, but that is way short, and really my joints won’t like it. My ankles and knees tend to hurt if they are jammed up like that for a long time. Now from my reading I know I could potentially help this problem by purchasing some composite stirrups with a wider foot bed, but there’s also the problem of that pesky stirrup bar. </p> <p>I know that’s the point of All Purpose saddles, to BE all purpose, but really, can’t I get one with the stirrup bars set back under the thigh, but with a shallower seat to get the best of both worlds?? </p> <p>Basically, if I want to keep pursuing dressage, I need a dressage saddle. I’m fighting with the positioning the AP shoves me into every time I ride. It’s messing with my leg position, which is messing with my seat and back. My saddle fitter told me I had a “duck butt”. (-__-‘) Yay. </p> <p>Now, to be fair, that’s partly my posture post-three babies and two c-sections. Yeah, that stuff really <em>messes</em> with your abs. My lower back is slightly sway because of that. So my butt is going to poke out more than is correct until I can get the abs strength back to correct my skeletal alignment. </p> <p>So. There it is. </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gBNBlMh6pE0/VYprJf2sOcI/AAAAAAAALUs/4DEANoXdBis/s1600-h/IMG_2230%25255B1%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Copper's ready to hit the trails! - A Riding Habit" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Copper's ready to hit the trails! - A Riding Habit" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVV4croGqV1mD0OfRYjvdeMNllA_765K_qY4chXc5LfGOGdVdMz-qhzv2-08lNIfsqFTq0dA37eY1t1uHPbuZANgAT43GYv0bXpTcxCRDnTwAxgsX5QodGVQgXPovEn1BOOP-7bJPoyD5Y/?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a>- <em>Wanna to do moar of dis -</em> </p> <p>Now, the conundrum remains – do I sell the AP to fund the dressage saddle? Or do I say goodbye to my ‘new camera fund’ and buy a second saddle?</p> <p>A break down of my rides usually consists of 2/3 training in the arena, and 1/3 trail riding. Yes, I would totally use a dressage saddle on the trails because why not?</p> <p>But the thing is, I like jumping. Even though I haven’t jumped in years because I’ve been pregnant/post-pregnancy, had a young, green horse – Joey for a year and a half instead of Copper, etc, I still want to be able to jump. </p> <p>I can’t if I don’t keep the AP. Which also could probably use longer billets on it to help anchor the saddle in place. $120 odd dollars plus whatever I need for the new girth as well as a new dressage saddle. Fabulous. </p> <p>So is anyone looking to sell a Wintec 500 dressage saddle with CAIR panels, an adjustable gullet system that is less than four years old?</p> <p>Because I’m looking to buy.</p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita</p> Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-87586031619876922292015-06-17T03:45:00.001-07:002015-11-23T19:42:07.268-08:00Paddock Drama, Rug Monsters & Bareback Rides<p>I’ve been so busy running around and actually <em>riding </em>that I haven’t had a chance to write up any blog posts. Of course, that also means I have another TLDR right here for you…</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4A7bu7-bwIo/VYFPqgIVK8I/AAAAAAAALO4/hsEnsQGMYAA/s1600-h/IMG_2165%25255B1%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2165[1]" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_2165[1]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzru6WTRAcLrgdCqBnik-6_BrzJuhNDT9QjLziLmI5-rfcrZyIpG0xF6Aj74IqZXXKQBqrbzf4vuYwHs5cW1xiC-0iDR3iGGUTL-ufeiP5GdFygma61CCH-LibsR7jfEeDyqkUEuTwJHIZ/?imgmax=800" width="450" height="450"></a> - <em>I iz handsom -</em></p> <p>So the story starts when we had a run in with some animal activists. I will try to keep it short, but the government has a kangaroo cull running in the hills behind our paddocks. It’s necessary, but some people don’t really agree. So in order to try and ‘discourage’ the culling, someone/s decided to open the gates and let our herd of thirteen horses loose.</p> <p>Yes, you heard right. They decided that letting the horses out into the paddocks was the best way to stop people from shooting. </p> <p>Never mind the fact that even if the horses had decided that the safest thing to do was to run towards to the loud scary noises in the dark, (<em>ha!</em>) I sincerely doubt it would actually stop the work of the culling. </p> <p>To add to that, the gates towards the road where open. So really all they had to do was go down the wrong way and they’d be out on the roads. At night. No street lights. In a 80 kilometre (<em>50 miles</em>) an hour zone. </p> <p>Yup. </p> <p>Want to know what happens when you hit an 800 kilo animal at 80 kms an hour? Yeah... People die. So do horses. And I thought you were animal activists because you <em>cared </em>about animals. </p> <p>There are no words. </p> <p>But the results are that thankfully the whole herd came back, though they were panicked, scared, and more than a little freaked out. </p> <p>Copper was sore, and strained in his hindquarters/loin area. He has been ever since, though he’s slowly getting better. </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkv1Y2GgJNk1Cu-nA9t7gHMxstaRBRYoK1jUjy9MlFHhjxXo8ZkNVHBDY958VNC1hjVaWQIxwJfkDr2dK87D4Zg3ZUT5w7fkHT0-o_FGWxmEXoVzGjFA7dir92s-49rx0m4OzQRy5nCwQN/s1600-h/IMG_2167%25255B1%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2167[1]" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_2167[1]" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bmiUL_ztA-8/VYFPsgliekI/AAAAAAAALPQ/UZ4ZabL-rek/IMG_2167%25255B1%25255D_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="450"></a> <em>- I eatz rug monstaz! Rwah! </em>-</p> <p>Then last Monday, we had a run in with the horrid rug monster of doomed! </p> <p>It wasn’t good. One of the horses, a Thoroughbred called M, has string halt, and he’s gotten tangled up in one of his rugs before, but unfortunately the same thing happened again. </p> <p>He flipped out. He was bucking and kicking, and basically running along on his front legs, with his back legs in the air because he couldn’t move them fast enough to keep up with the front end. </p> <p>All of this started just as I was walking Copper down the lane right next to the paddock. Of course, he just about lost it himself. He stood staring and snorting, and <em>almost </em>kept it together, but that other horse just wouldn’t stand still, so Copper freaked too. He spun sideways, and it would have been fine except my saddle slipped big time. </p> <p>I ended up hanging on his right side as the saddle had come completely off his back and all I could think was “GET OFF NOW!”. I kicked my foot out of the left stirrup easily enough, but for one heart stopping moment I doubted that I’d get my right foot free at all. All my weight was pressing into the stirrup, making it hard to kick off. </p> <p>Somehow I did get it free and I immediately pushed off Copper’s side to the ground. He didn’t realise what I was doing so he tried to take off, but I had a firm grip on the reins, so he spun around me instead. </p> <p>I walked him back up the laneway as fast as I could; I had to get his gear off and help that horse who was still loosing it the paddock. </p> <p>I lead Copper to the mounting log (<em>yes, literally a fallen log we use to mount from</em>) and started to strip off his tack. Unfortunately, I automatically started with the girth, but realized my mistake when the saddle was hanging by the breastplate alone! </p> <p>I was supporting the saddle with my torso by pushing it against Copper’s side, wrestling with stiff, weighted breastplate straps and praying that he didn’t move or the whole thing would be swinging free around his front legs and then we <em>REALLY</em> would have had a disaster on our hands!</p> <p>Thankfully, Copper seems to be mostly sensible in a “I’m too freaked to move” kind of way when he gets scared so I managed to get all the buckles undone to free the saddle and put it on the log, along with the breastplate.</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KBwm3WcJxB8/VYFPtV5667I/AAAAAAAALPY/sA3T4V0QMIE/s1600-h/IMG_2168%25255B1%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2168[1]" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_2168[1]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs74shk2zFtA6YMobpQHH3_8z2cfcYyw-cgysdSjacBcNIc6v9WBawnLCWCB8A5TuAj2bM9eyIJwVArL0ezyPUE_KEBY1W5DnSLClB4OUMbSOmTAyMGAABBPQQvJ4m2TkzbcPb_47FITml/?imgmax=800" width="450" height="600"></a>- <em>I haz treat foh bein’ good rightz? -</em> </p> <p>Then I led him to the arena area, which is fenced, stripped off his bridle, and shut the gate, only to find that the gate wouldn’t shut! I hastily jerry-rigged some bailing twine around the gate and clipped the chain to that in hopes that Copper would still be sensible and not test the gate’s security. </p> <p>Then I ran and grabbed my halter and hot-footed it to the paddock. </p> <p>By this stage M had worn himself to pieces, and was too injured and tired to move. So I crept up to him murmuring soothing noises, and offered him some liquorice I luckily had in my back pocket.</p> <p>He automatically took the liquorice, though I think he hardly knew what he was doing. Then I slipped the halter on, and hastily got to work on the rug. </p> <p>The neck elastic was still done up, but down around his chest, and the chest buckles where down at his knees, so I was glad I still had my helmet on! </p> <p>The rest of the rug was in tatters, and tangled around his back legs. I was able to slip it down his body and coax him to step out of the wreckage. He couldn’t walk anywhere though, so I called around, and thankfully his owner turned up pretty quickly. </p> <p align="center"><img title="IMG_2169[1]" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_2169[1]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnpHfyNnCqklTpwm_kvZRpj_DqhiYYVnjvyzrpVsSoyW0BIqIwQUjXhyphenhyphen7w2WJHekAUPRgeH_OkW2HvsQF9fLoyKJopJEsTNauhfnUfYu8S5XtQXvOuivhIOGlcrjiChsv1ZoclMSRnid2Z/?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"><br>- <em>Stap playin’ wit that silly fing Mom an’ take I out to mah fwendz!</em> -</p> <p>In the meantime, Copper was cantering up and down the arena fence instead of grazing like I’d hoped he would, so I went back to rescue him! He was too wound up to tack up (<em>again</em>) and ride, so I fed him instead. </p> <p>Plus, that’s the second time my saddle has slipped badly and this time was the worst. It was an extremely dangerous situation to be in. </p> <p>His saddle <em>cannot </em>slip like that during freak out moments – that’s how we both end up hurt, or worse. </p> <p>So that brings me to the next part: bareback rides. </p> <p>I’ll be riding him bareback until I can get a saddle fitter out to assess the problem. </p> <p>I’ve already had one ride and it was actually pretty fun! You really can feel everything that’s going on in his entire frame, which makes it easier to figure out what’s going wrong as well as how to use your body to fix it. </p> <p>I think I’ll be adding bareback rides to our regular ride schedule even when I do get my saddle fixed. It’s really cool! </p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita</p> Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-80139135308263378502015-05-12T21:07:00.001-07:002015-11-23T19:45:55.674-08:00All the Excitement!!<p><br>I seriously can’t believe how great the rides Copper and I have had recently have been. </p> <p>I’ve been riding around the arena with the biggest, goofiest grin on my face – I’d look like a madcap to anyone watching, but we are all by ourselves so… </p> <p>It started two weeks or so ago – I can’t really remember how many rides I’ve done since the last update, but it’s been a few. I’ve ridden during the week (<em>we’re hiring a babysitter every Wednesday so I can ride – yay!</em>) and the weekend, so we are actually clocking up some decent saddle time. </p> <p>And to make it even better, we’ve had a ton of new AHA! moments – three to be exact! </p> <p>All this excitement makes for an uber long post – so here’s the <strong>TLDR: </strong></p> <ol> <li><strong>Your shoulders influence your horse’s shoulders. Keep them dropped down and back, and don’t forget to turn them from your tummy when when you are bending.</strong> <li><strong>Your belly button is important. Think relaxed, loose back, and supported/pulled in core. Draw your belly button back and up towards your spin to active your core and allow your horse to step more deeply underneath himself.</strong> <li><strong>The canter aid can be confusing, but you need to use your inside hip AND your outside leg to signal the aid correctly. </strong></li></ol> <p><strong></strong> </p> <p><strong><img title="IMG_1838[1]" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1838[1]" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o_2g86C3azE/VVLN9LdDmbI/AAAAAAAAK98/BJuiOW8l51k/IMG_1838%25255B1%25255D_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></strong></p> <p>Copper’s really struggled with circles for a while, maintaining the bend from nose, through his rib cage, to his tail. He’d lose it through his shoulders a lot – particularly on the left rein – and I thought it might have been because he wasn’t strong enough to hold it. </p> <p>Turns out, not so much – it was me! </p> <p>One ride we were gong around on the left rein and it just clicked with me that my right shoulder was hunched up and forwards – really quite tense. Now whether that has something to do with the fact that my right ankle was twisted a while ago and my body is still trying to protect it, or that my right ankle doesn’t stretch and flex to let my heel down as far as the left one – I’m not sure. The point is: I was unbalanced, and that had come up through my seat into my shoulder. </p> <p>As soon as I felt that, I dropped my shoulder down and back and it was like I had poked a finger in the middle of Copper’s whither and unravelled a huge knot! </p> <p>He was twisting himself up, trying to bend the way I was insisting that he should, all the while I was all crooked – blocking his shoulders from moving freely. </p> <p>I started playing with my shoulders, keeping them dropped and back when I was turning, swivelling them from my tummy – and wow! A fun new button to play with! Copper is so much more responsive through turns, and I can really feel that connection like I couldn’t before – his shoulder mirror my shoulders and vice versa. It was a real eye opening moment for sure. Especially when I can turn him without using my reins at all - as in, he’s on a completely looped rein, and we are doing half volte turns!</p> <p>We’ve actually managed to get a few steps of a true shoulder-in because of this AHA moment. We are working on it – it’s still quite hard for Copper, but he gets it! So that’s been really fun too. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSv7bOVvLiK6WcIRIPp89est9GltSA-CULzyeioVHaClQ-JZR23EHXds8CVrrX6_mKN7sTHBtXy35-xKGNTKJhtr3EYdVbWZNL_3yBNJUMnN-3DxNn4SssCdENTYNMp6PpZ-7-sQjyTc8z/s1600-h/IMG_1843%25255B1%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1843[1]" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1843[1]" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tJCajTmdeLg/VVLOAEvMK4I/AAAAAAAAK-M/o9W9czprHmA/IMG_1843%25255B1%25255D_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a> </p> <p>Then the next button I discovered was my belly button. No joke. :P </p> <p>Okay, so I knew it always existed, but then I found out that it can influence your horse’s back and belly too! </p> <p>I tried a core activation trick I had learned in Pilates – relax your back entirely, including the small of your back and your glutes. Then, slowly draw your belly button back towards your spine and slightly up, almost like a string is pulling at the front of your pelvis.</p> <p>This “tucks” the front of your core, activating it. Funnily enough, it has the same effect on your horse! </p> <p>When I did this, I felt Copper instantly lift his back and engage his abs, and not only that, step further underneath himself. It was like lifting a dam gate and the power just flowed from his hind quarters through his back, neck and then into my hands.</p> <p>It was an incredible sensation – not one we could hold on to for very long unfortunately – neither of us are toned/fit enough to keep our cores so active for any length of time yet. I’ll definitely keep visiting this one often though, it’s excellent toning for the both of us. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KexPdKYH_Js/VVLOCHBtEWI/AAAAAAAAK-U/FBl3-Fh0-4U/s1600-h/IMG_1847%25255B2%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1847[2]" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1847[2]" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uA68ozqQRDg/VVLODLLGOGI/AAAAAAAAK-c/DXNNkrrN4vA/IMG_1847%25255B2%25255D_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a></p> <p>Last but not least - a canter aid breakthrough! </p> <p>So recently I read (<em>on the Facebook Dressage group I’m apart of</em>) a question about the canter aid. It basically ran along the lines of “What’s the correct aid for canter? Outside leg or inside leg?”</p> <p>The answers where many and varied, but it got me thinking. It seemed to me that using the outside leg to ask for canter was less than desirable, as some people mentioned it could cause crookedness. But it also seemed that a LOT of people also mentioned that they’d been taught the outside leg transition technique in multiple different times and places from many different instructors. </p> <p>Basically, it’s one of those tricky ones where there’s a lot of conflicting information. I’ve personally always gone for the inside aid – lifting and scoping the inside hip – what I considered the ‘correct’ classical way to give the aid. </p> <p>This has worked really well for me in the past – particularly on Copper’s good side – his right lead. He will just lift and pop into the canter if he is balanced well to begin with. </p> <p>This is not the case with his left rein – I’ve really had a lot of struggle getting him to canter properly on this rein. He will literally run himself into the ground to pick up the left lead canter. It’s so messy that motorcycles have nothing on him! It’s also impossible to bring this canter back into balance, so obviously it’s all kinds of wrong. </p> <p>I couldn’t figure out how to fix this canter depart. I toyed with the idea of ground poles or trying to train him to walk-canter depart which I’ve read can be easier for the horse to pick up, but really I wasn’t sure if these ideas were the best… </p> <p><em>Spoiler: walk-canter depart when the rider doesn’t know how to ride a walk-canter depart, let alone train one, doesn’t work. I tried and we failed miserably, so I didn’t push it at all.</em> </p> <p>On a whim, I decided to try the outside leg ask with Copper today. OH. So THAT’S how he’s been trained to pick up canter! It was not as neat as the inside hip scoop, but that doesn’t surprise me in the least. Those canter transitions only happen when he is super balanced, on the aids, soft through his back and listening. </p> <p><em>…So the inside hip scoop aid is something I have to work towards –not something I have right now.</em></p> <p><em>This is a BIG game changer…. </em></p> <p>I was thrilled at how easy the canter transition was. It can be so hard to get him to canter if everything’s not already perfect, and he had been rush-y and spooky our whole ride. When he’s like that a canter transition is a disaster – no matter which rein you are on. It’s like picking between an earthquake or a tsunami. Six of one, half a dozen of the other and completely catastrophic! So we literally never canter unless the ‘conditions’ of horse’s mood, schooling session, and weather are all in order. </p> <p>This canter aid felt so ‘right’ for us, however, that I even switched reins and put the game face on to try it on the left rein. AND IT WORKED!! I was so shocked, but we got it without any scrambling and held it! Of course, he was still leaning in a little, but it wasn’t too bad and I influenced him into balance with my seat. </p> <p>Then I was all “Is he really on the left lead??” (<em>That’s how rarely we canter this lead – I couldn’t even tell…</em> (>_>)”…) So I went to change rein and he<em> freakin’ </em>did a<em> freakin’ </em>flying change!! A full-on bouncy, complete with back legs, <em>freakin’ flying change!!</em> We even had, like, a whole right lead canter stride after it before we fell apart like a hot mess!!!! </p> <p>Of course I praised him like mad, because even though that was not what I was expecting and I was so not ready for it, he did it cleanly, and he was trying really hard to do the right thing for me. *<em>squeee* </em> I even have that little bubble of joy and pride welling up in my chest as I think about it. </p> <p>My horse is a champ. </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pX2ZYrpVEqM/VVLOE5bZAyI/AAAAAAAAK-k/kqkwGbCRrZI/s1600-h/IMG_1845%25255B1%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1845[1]" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1845[1]" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3nKX5x6z4JA/VVLOGO6jKzI/AAAAAAAAK-s/pH89M9gWu-0/IMG_1845%25255B1%25255D_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a> - <em>I iz champine! -</em></p> <p>AND THEN (<em>if you are not already dying at the length of this post already!</em>) we went on to do some awesome trot work! His stride was really free and relaxed, his back was up and soft and we had some great walk-trot and trot-walk transitions off my seat. </p> <p>I was really impressed by this because he’s usually so worked up after cantering that it’s really hard to get him back into a ‘soft’ frame of mind for any trot work. He is usually all “WHHHEEEE!! I wants to rhun forevah naow!!!” </p> <p>And noted, he still did have that, but the fact that I was able to get him to find his marbles (<em>brain</em>) again was pretty dang cool. That’s also something we’ve been really struggling with - also adding very much to my reluctance to canter, because once we did I felt like the chance for any quality work afterwards would fly out the window and we’d be struggling to regain rhythm and relaxation for the rest of the ride. </p> <p>Not so anymore! We are FINALLY at the stage where I feel we can start working on the canter and not just the walk/trot. </p> <p>It’s only taken – oh, about a year…. Wait, nope – a lot longer than that! Ever since I first started riding Copper I’ve been waiting to get to the stage where we could finally work on his canter! And that would be over ten years now… However, since I seriously started to pull apart my riding and try and figure out how my seat/body influenced Copper – that’s been about a year, and now I feel like that’s the point when I really started to <em>ride.</em></p> <p>The rest of the time – that’s just been sitting on top of a horse. </p> <p>I can’t tell you how epic it feels to finally reach this stage I’ve been waiting for. It’s like sunshine and cotton candy, and all the stars in the night sky wrapped up inside of me, waiting to burst out. <br></p> <p>It took a long time to get here, and I know there are mountains more to conquer, but right now I’m so thrilled that we’ve got so far. Copper’s not a dressage horse, but we are riding dressage together anyway, <em>and it’s a good thing. </em></p> <p>See ya,</p> <p>bonita</p> <p>P.S. – Jane Savoie breaks the canter aid down in the beginning of this video, and really it’s both – inside seat bone/leg AND the outside leg. I guess in the end it’s really about how you look at it, and what clicks for your head.</p><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f6Sc0TWQoQ8" frameborder="0" width="420" allowfullscreen></iframe> Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-36883291421609003962015-04-20T18:17:00.001-07:002015-04-20T18:17:50.265-07:00Third Ride Postpartum – Turning Circles!<p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Gn-oj86p9oM/VTWlOVqW5jI/AAAAAAAAKtg/mO1JE6pMTHM/s1600-h/IMG_1645%25255B1%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1645[1]" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1645[1]" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cRjz3qGnAs8/VTWlPK2xrcI/AAAAAAAAKto/uE-Jw4-WBhM/IMG_1645%25255B1%25255D_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a>- <em>I love the listening ear! -</em> <br></p> <p>I’ll keep it brief because, let’s face it - walk work is booorriiinggg to anyone but the avid dressage enthusiast… </p> <p>But that’s where we are at. So the latest ride consisted of – and I’m sure you’ve guessed it - perfecting our 20m circle. </p> <p>Copper has struggled with the 20m circle for a while; keeping consistent bend through out the circle and not losing it by popping out his ribs or shoulders 3/4 of the way around.</p> <p>At first I thought it was a strength issue, that he wasn’t strong enough to keep carrying his weight in his quarters and step deeply enough underneath himself with his inside hind, but now I’m wondering if it wasn’t a suppleness issue all along. </p> <p>He isn’t strong at <em>all</em> at the moment, he has no topline and hardly any muscle tone. He’s in a total paddock-kept state. Yet we got the best 20m circle work I’ve had from him for a while. Yes, it took a lot of goes around before we completed a perfect 20m circle on both reins without losing the bend once, but we did get there!</p> <p>And boy, was his walk ever so lovely afterwards. His back was soft, rounded, and supple, and I could really feel him reaching underneath himself with his hind. The quality of his gait was 100% of what he can give me right now, and I was so chuffed!</p> <p>It’s like sitting on a marshmallow that can read your mind! The connection was unbelievable and that’s what I love about dressage. Really. </p> <p>Circles. So simple, yet so darn effective when done correctly that it just blows my mind! </p> <p>Oh, and it was hard work for me too! I could feel my abs after that ride with just the right amount of I’ve-been-working. So far, there hasn’t been an regression on my healing after having Little Pumpkin, so that’s a good thing. We are both on the way to getting fit again! </p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita </p> Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-20410486026969222042015-04-12T17:37:00.001-07:002015-04-12T17:37:59.430-07:00The First Two Rides After a Baby<p>I got to ride my horse again! It’s been months since I last rode – three months, three weeks and one day to be exact – but who’s counting? <font size="2">(┛◉Д◉)┛ </font></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqw2dg3EN7dY4eLsrvDyTOlObBy6SfRqe81T0D2jXHbWwmWGcypq1yBqwGMbz2srcmouZZPoiLU8cKxOw89DLU57Wz7x4bOuBZty-L4IvUyJXLncSbp2ySQCG_y0Pnl-9JPX1E5dXjvESx/s1600-h/IMG_1583%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1583" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1583" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-w44KtNBoChE/VSsPur9o84I/AAAAAAAAKpU/witXKUFIRXM/IMG_1583_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a> - “<em>Hai Mom!”</em> -</p> <p>Here’s a brief history of my other “horse riding after babies” experiences to fill in the back story. You can skip if you want to, or have the <strong>TLDR version:</strong> <em>I’ve had three children, two by caesarean and one by natural delivery. After every birth I’ve needed time to heal before I could ride again, but it did vary as to how long that had to be.</em></p> <p>When I had my first baby – my son, who is now 3 and a half years old – I rode six weeks after he was born via emergency caesarean. Of course, in typical over-achiever fashion, that was too soon and I found myself quite sore in a not-so-good way afterwards even though I’d only walked and done tiny bit of trot on Copper for about 20 minutes. I then had to wait another two weeks before I could hop on again to give myself time to recover from the ride. </p> <p>With my second - my two year old daughter – she was delivered naturally, but came out pretty quickly in the end which caused tearing that needed stitches. I rode my horse Joey at around six weeks postpartum –and <a href="http://aridinghabit.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/my-first-ride-back-after-having-baby.html">wrote a post about it here</a>. I could get back in the saddle sooner with the natural birth, and probably would have been even faster to get back on if it hadn’t been for the stitches.</p> <p>Baby number three was born by another not by choice, but necessary, caesarean. This time I was so grateful that it wasn’t an emergency situation, so thankfully the trauma from the whole delivery hasn’t been as big of a problem like my first birth turned out to be. </p> <p>This is actually really important, because if you don’t acknowledge your mental state from the birthing process, good or bad, you can end up burying a lot of emotions that need to be processed. I say need because your life <em>will </em>be effected by emotions that aren’t dealt with. Your thought processes, your attitudes, your relationships – yes, including those with your horse – will be effected. I found this out the hard way after suffering from PTSD and PND for six months after my son’s dramatic entrance to the world. </p> <p>This time around, I made sure to give myself as much time to heal as I needed before swinging back into the saddle. It’s been a lengthy process – I wrote up <a href="http://aridinghabit.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/coming-back-to-horse-riding-after-c.html">the recovery plan</a> details so that I could keep track of them – but it definitely included snuggles with the horse and grooming sessions to get my pony time in and keep my sanity while I waited to ride again.</p> <p><strong>Back in the saddle after baby number three:</strong></p> <p>So at seven weeks and four days postpartum I finally rode Copper! Yay! I was this excited to be back in the saddle – exhibit A: Biggest grin ever!! <br><font size="2">\ (*≧▽≦)ノ</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-MevYl_f4ohs/VSsPwFtvbqI/AAAAAAAAKpc/Ab6WV82WodE/s1600-h/IMG_1586%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1586" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1586" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tGa9eiu46M0/VSsPyKz1jRI/AAAAAAAAKpk/852StDhquWU/IMG_1586_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a> </p> <p>Of course, he’s lost ALL of his topline and muscle development that we were starting to get last year. This means we can only do very gentle rides consisting mostly of walk work, lateral work to stretch, and <em>loads </em>transitions to keep his back swinging freely to establish good contact. This isn’t really a problem though, because I’m just as unfit as he is so we BOTH have to ease our way back into it so we don’t get injuries! </p> <p>Keeping that in mind, our first ride on Friday was a gentle tootle around the arena. We bent deep into the corners, working on the three-stride corner. Then I had him do some shoulder-fores, leg yields, and transitions from walk to halt. We did do a few minutes of trotting. I didn’t ask for anything more than rhythm while trotting, because that’s all he has to give me at the moment. He’s lost a lot of strength and can’t really hold any bend, but I did get a few moments of a nice lifted and connected back which was great. We ended with some smooth leg yields and called it a day. It was lovely! </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-GKiboPkKCZg/VSsPz1otUBI/AAAAAAAAKps/p5XkJcHwDvk/s1600-h/IMG_1587%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1587" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1587" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwmynSnz98EQp4ldK0jRbanmOw9AA687eGhkwK6haTRKjvn46sAh60J4N-ePbxi4wA4h7LtWIJ4he4SyGUi0Q7_iGg6ZVQmKmIDmBtAtxG6Cg-ZI_el6C3VQj7I8tpFu0jHl1ESeGoyBX/?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a> </p> <p>I could feel my abs and inner thigh muscles the next day, but in a good, you’ve-done-some-exercise way, not a Ouch! You’ve-over-done-it way. This had me cheering so I just <em>had</em> to ride again on Sunday. Maybe it was too soon, but I just can’t keep away now! </p> <p>This ride was not as pleasant though because Copper really wasn’t feeling it. He was happy enough to see me - he whickered hello and came striding up to me with pricked ears and that soft eye “I’m glad to see you” look. </p> <p>But then we had an argument over mounting. I insisted he keep his feet still and he was all “Nope! I’m outta here!”</p> <p>We were still debating where the feet had to be - </p> <p>Copper: “Back a bit?” </p> <p>Me: *taps dressage whip on flank* “No. Here.”</p> <p>Copper: “Sideways? Ooh, I know! Forwards twenty steps!!” </p> <p>Me: “Wrong answer horse!”</p> <p>- when my phone rang. Turns out the little Pumpkin had decided that she <em>wasn’t </em>going to have that two hour afternoon nap I was sure she was ready for after all and I needed to come home stat to feed the baby. *pout*</p> <p>So I finally put an end to the discussion and managed to mount him without him moving. (<em>Still have to work on the feet moving once I’m in the saddle though. He’s not rock solid like I want him to be.</em>)</p> <p>He was off and away, and when I tucked my feet into the stirrups Copper nearly jumped out of his skin! He really had a kink in his back and he took off trotting, wanting to canter. </p> <p>I only had five minutes to ride at the most, so I let him trot on. Trying to get him to walk then would have just made him explode because he would have felt trapped. I kept him at a moderate trot with half-halts on the outside rein and a steady one-two sit trot rhythm with a weighted seat.</p> <p>We did some bending all around the jump paddock, and his head was bopping all over the place – he didn’t want to come into contact. I encouraged him to stretch down with a loose rein walk. That slowed him down enough to do some leg yields, some more loose rein walk, and then finally we finished with a less tense horse and two nice leg yields – one in each direction. </p> <p>He was happy when I dismounted though. I guess he was feeling that ride we had had on Friday too, because I’ve never felt him have such a big ‘hump’ in his back before. He was so tense! It was one of those “I’m riding a nucelar bomb that’s about to blow” type rides! I debated getting off, because I’m not fit enough to ride through any shenanigans, but end up staying on because I felt like we could work through it if I was tactful and stayed out of his face.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7SmjQEFiCUSyWbNvVyA-2X7nlMVMvdr8wOJSyXmScqGtcZSzRG-BA5ml8SqWB7DIF7zwp9jZ8FvP1xS78NyDH-o67-YixoEv7yaRxvvht3J-j7zTkTaayKa-jVm7_bPPKWU0ux_Dyb0Wn/s1600-h/IMG_1595%25255B1%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1595[1]" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1595[1]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19PDB9-TleKx55O-nyuK9CRxuW3oDAJSMi2Y2skj5rD4hnR8-Ph5C-fE5NHXdSRgIw8ZD7zI72ap8J3BqVUj-Ntp4tIUE4n6ZcfaxZPbZ_PF6UR_ZbKYN7t789whEopgIAUbAffDKIwDP/?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a> - “<em>Meee? Tense?? Nawww….” </em>-</p> <p>And I’m glad we were able to do that. It was good practise. It helped me figure out how I need to ride him through those stressful moments so that we both feel safe. </p> <p>Despite that last ride, it has been so awesome to get back into it, and now we just need to work up our strength. Lots of hill work here we come! </p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita</p> Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-14121677126122814512015-03-17T17:36:00.001-07:002015-03-17T17:36:31.743-07:00Coming Back to Horse Riding after a C-Section Delivery<p align="center"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-5vYiM4NLGU4/VQjIhHfclBI/AAAAAAAAKgM/e4DOo5-iy-8/s1600-h/IMG_1398%25255B1%25255D%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1398[1]" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1398[1]" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-redHqeMRpsw/VQjIh5DewoI/AAAAAAAAKgU/GwiXaQS2cDg/IMG_1398%25255B1%25255D_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="542" height="406"></a> - <em>Waiting at the gate. Copper’s happy to see me! -</em></p> <p>It’s been a while hasn’t it? </p> <p>I have been to see Copper twice since Charlotte was born, but as I haven’t been cleared to exercise yet I haven’t been riding. </p> <p>To be honest, I haven’t really been up for it anyway. Charlotte was born by caesarean section due to some complications, and while she has been happy, healthy, and growing like a weed, I haven’t been recovering so quickly. </p> <p>It’s been four weeks and one day since she was born, and I’ve spent the vast majority of that time in bed. And I’ve needed to, otherwise I get really sore through out my core and back, and across my wound. And (<em>TMI alert!!</em>) I make my bleeding start up again and usually it’s quite heavy when that happens. </p> <p>My body is really shattered, and it’s going to take me quite a long time to recover. Probably a least a year before I’m back to full strength. </p> <p>In the mean time I am doing all I can to aid the healing process. I’m taking Arnica tablets three times a day, rubbing my belly and scar with Arnica cream every day. I wear a support bandage 24/7 to help my posture, and I’m taking my supplements as often as I can. Which should be every day but let’s face it – I’m nursing around the clock and I can’t remember what day it is, let alone what my daily routine should be! </p> <p>As far as physical recovery goes, I have an exercise routine mapped out to help my core knit back together with my pelvic muscles. I’ve started with Osteopath treatments to wake up the severed nerves and muscle and make my body realise it can knit those together again – not just healing them separately. </p> <p>Then I plan to do <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldenkrais_Method">Feldenkrais</a> – which is a method of training yourself through repetitive movement patterns to be aware of the way that your body moves and holds itself so that you can retrain bad habits and create better function. </p> <p>After I’ve started with the Feldenkrais, I want to pick up some Pilates to start working on regain my fitness, then after a few months if I’m feeling strong enough and up to it I would like to take up <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettlebell">Kettlebells</a> or Ballet! I haven’t decided which yet – and I might end up doing both. </p> <p>It certainly will be fun to pursue these new forms of exercise, but it’s all because I want to be fitter and stronger so I can <em>ride</em> better. That’s what it’s ultimately about for me. </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAxkT_H9oW2i5p-lcjCs3eD68q0ulQ5VG6qnhKnQ2aUKCxJvPmsjCkP-UfK4HRBEy4K48K59P2GsSnXIpEnbkIQpj2WwVXdm1oTSQ9jdYzJVp7Qt7V3j12-SXG5Yx7U2pwz7JUrW6GDUU/s1600-h/IMG_1399%25255B1%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1399[1]" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1399[1]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcB5UBFoX1XnBmyAdgMwgWKhbyqOuSTc41RirtZxwB6NsRgJvUItaD9xBhxAVoxO4QFErvFPgyUNcaZo_ucA1t8xmfaKrE117cHRochCxjVWnYayai5P3-VrHkfsAgRkWwe2GRMeZfVp37/?imgmax=800" width="542" height="406"></a> - <em>Happy pony! -</em></p> <p>Dressage. </p> <p>Riding my horse to the best of my ability. Improving my health so I can get the most out of each ride. That’s the end goal, and I’m excited to see how my cross training improves my horse riding. I think it will be beneficial to my flexibility and range of movement which I hope improves my dressage seat. </p> <p>I will have more updates once I get started with my exercise routine and hop back on Copper. I think it’s a good idea to keep a record of this journey as it’s a fairly big one in terms of where my body is now and how much it has to heal, and of course, how that’s affecting my riding in the mean time. </p> <p>Just so you know, Copper is as happy a clam chilling out in his paddock with his herd. I’m the one who’s missing the riding! </p> <p>See ya, </p> <p>bonita</p> Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501372116173749071.post-70894387123175142932015-02-23T20:30:00.001-08:002015-02-23T20:30:08.244-08:00Welcome To The Newest Member Of The Herd<p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-1mPQg8Uorq0/VOv-QzkZZ1I/AAAAAAAAKb4/ovvXGAEElrM/s1600-h/Baby-Charlotte%25255B4%25255D.png"><img title="Baby Charlotte | Lavender & Twill" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Baby Charlotte | Lavender & Twill" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpX7q1WwaJ211c-ovK77812Du0QD7vVoFrIxR9Wm8GmeZc9s3pKBSyhfJ7rkkJnU4ykZXJT1yKfK2F2-dXXv0BgO9C8Zs7TUo2HlkoTmodeYEkOllS0wU4sfDUKhmzY39yE7qYCTTkeEbo/?imgmax=800" width="450" height="338"></a> </p> <h2 align="center"><font size="7" face="Bergamot Ornaments"><font face="CharmingSymbols">i </font><strong>♡ <font face="CharmingSymbols">i</font></strong></font></h2> <p align="center">We are delighted to announce the birth of our baby girl: </p> <p align="center"><font size="5" face="5th Grade Cursive"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-91tG0gIsVYY/VOv-TH9r_VI/AAAAAAAAKcI/Yp9tCnPfqMI/s1600-h/Namplate%25255B13%25255D.png"><img title="Namplate" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Namplate" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-PA9C_Pzi2ok/VOv-TuN8weI/AAAAAAAAKcQ/n_wjBlnckL8/Namplate_thumb%25255B12%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="385" height="70"></a> <br></font>Head: 35cm<br>Length: 53cm<br>Weight: 4.175 kg or 9lb 3oz!</p> <p align="center">“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,<br>and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you.<br>For the Lord is a God of justice;<br>blessed are all those who wait for Him.”<br>~ Isaiah 30:18 ~</p> <h2 align="center"><font size="7" face="Bergamot Ornaments"><font face="CharmingSymbols">i </font><strong>♡ <font face="CharmingSymbols">i</font></strong></font></h2> <p>See ya, <p>bonita Lavender and Twillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06331125027969557539noreply@blogger.com0